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U.S. Troops Train Afghan Police; Bill Would Extend Jobless Benefits; AARP, AMA Endorse Health-Care Bill
Aired November 05, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We are pushing forward. Law and order, war and peace. In Afghanistan, they're one and the same. And Afghan police play a critical role in that fight, except when they're high.
Here at home, no help for a teen being brutally raped until one small, brave voice spoke up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGARITA VARGAS, CALLED IN RAPE: I feel like if it weren't for me, she would have been dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: ... phone call, but nobody bothered except Margarita Vargas.
All right, we begin this hour now, in Afghanistan. With -- at a crossroads, rather. Days after a deadly Taliban attack on a guesthouse in Kabul, the U.N. is pulling some 600 staffers out of the country.
At the same time, President Obama is still weighing whether to deploy tens of thousands more troops on top of the reinforcement he's already sent.
And then there's Afghan police. Training, supporting, inspiring them is a top priority of the U.S. and an uphill battle. Making it even tougher, drugs, everywhere.
CNN's Chris Lawrence saw for himself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eighty-second Airborne soldiers rumble through southern Afghanistan, heading to remote police checkpoints. We rode with them through an area saturated with Taliban as they dodged roadside bombs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You try to follow the roads, and these narrow places like we're going right now, which is, you know, where they want to put them but...
LAWRENCE: At our first stop, we meet this checkpoint's new police chief, who just took over a month ago. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got you.
LAWRENCE: The last man to hold the job was arrested for housing Taliban right here at the police station.
LT. SEAN RYAN, U.S. ARMY: During an operation, when -- when the U.S. soldiers would go out, he would bring the Taliban into his checkpoint and pretend that they were just ANP.
LAWRENCE: Lieutenant Sean Ryan says he put his trust in the police chiefs.
RYAN: And do you know if they're dirty, if you -- you know, they have access to things. You know, they have access to government centers, stuff like that. And it's absolutely deadly.
LAWRENCE: Lieutenant Ryan has developed a detailed training plan for the Afghan officers in his district. But sometimes they bring other people into the station.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They hang around with an AK, and you wonder who are you? Do you have an I.D.?
LAWRENCE: Some officers embrace the training. Others sleep through their shifts or don't show up at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it depends how much hash they smoked that day.
LAWRENCE: Sure enough, at another stop, we see an officer swaying so badly he can barely stand. His eyes are glassy. He's high.
(on camera) Less than 100 meters from the main road in the police station, farmers are growing a massive crop of marijuana. Stacks and stacks, rows and rows, just as far as the eye can see.
(voice-over) The 82nd Airborne does what it can, but they aren't experts in evidence collection or investigation.
MAJ. SCOTT BRANNAN, U.S. ARMY: We don't have the skill set initially to be able to mentor how to run a police station.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That way if I'm searching them...
LAWRENCE: But Major Scott Brannan says his soldiers are patient, because they have to be.
BRANNAN: People that get killed, people that quit, a lot of times you'll have to do the same class three or four or five times.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Chris joins me now live from the Afghan capital. We're also joined by Gregory Lee. He's a former supervisory agent with the DEA, now a criminal justice consultant. Greg, why don't we go ahead and start with you? You saw Chris' piece. What's going on? Why are they not taking out these fields like the poppy fields?
GREGORY LEE, CRIMINAL JUSTICE CONSULTANT: Well, for a long time the military's attitude has always been that we're here to wage a war. We're not -- we're not drug agents. We're here to do what we normally do, what we're trained to do, which is to fight the enemy, kill them, and break things. That's what the army traditionally has done and always will do.
They've been resistant to the idea of them being involved in some sort of role in drug eradication or drug enforcement of any type. They're not, obviously, trained and equipped to do that. Until maybe up to a year ago, they've kind of changed their attitude. Now they're more ready to take some kind of action, because they realize now that the proceeds from the drug sales, both in hash and heroin, is going directly to fund the Taliban and al Qaeda's effort to fight them. So, their attitude's changed.
Things are different to a positive aspect finally, although there's been some setbacks recently when it comes to eradication as far as the U.S. role involved. But overall, it is getting better than what it was, let's say, one or two years ago.
PHILLIPS: But, Greg, let me ask you. Because DEA agents were sent over to prevent this from happening. And to teach the police how to stop the drug trade and the growth of drugs. And now you're seeing police forces involved with this. What's going on? And where's the DEA training?
LEE: You have to understand who does your training out there. Like 70 percent or 80 percent of the entire population is illiterate. There's really no real incentive for the police forces as individuals to get involved, because they know it's a dangerous situation. And heretofore, they've always been essentially in bed with the traffickers.
So, now the U.S. gets in there, and the DEA asks them to abandon all those past ties that you've had with traffickers. And now we want you to be on our side and actually do some enforcement activity out there that's going to thwart the traffickers. That -- that's a pretty tall order for somebody who has relations intimately with the Taliban and those type people over there.
So, it's -- it's really a tough road to hoe, I'll tell you, because you have the individual policeman over there, who's thinking about himself, his own welfare and the welfare of his family. And what you're going to have is all that's going to be in jeopardy if they start siding on the U.S. side, after having long relations with the traffickers contrary to that.
PHILLIPS: So, Chris, what does the military do, because they're really in a tough position here? I know they want to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people and they want the formers -- the farmers to be able to work and to live, but at the same time, I mean, it's drugs. We're talking about marijuana, and we're seeing police officers high.
LAWRENCE: But, Kyra, just to put it in perspective, I think Greg made a good point about having priorities here. Both marijuana and the opium poppies are both illegal. And they're also illegal in Islam.
But marijuana is socially acceptable. A lot of men over there, you see them smoking the hash cigarettes, and there is a feeling that, with so much of the opium fields still out there, you have to have priorities. That is a bigger priority than trying to stamp out marijuana.
PHILLIPS: So, why do you think, Chris, the Afghan police are so ineffective? We heard what Gregory said about them being in tight with the drug traffickers. What are you seeing there in country? And as you talk to soldiers and even talk to the police and those farmers growing the marijuana?
LAWRENCE: Well, probably because rightly so, NATO made it a priority to train up the Afghan army first, and from everything that I saw, the Afghan army soldiers look impressive.
The Afghan police are coming along after. They don't have the same equipment. They don't have the same vehicles. They're often lacking ammunition. And there is a real discipline problem within the Afghan police ranks.
I was talking to the lieutenant, and he said a lot of these checkpoint commanders and officers are scared to even get off base, because they -- they get shot at when they leave. There is no way you can have a community policing program if these officers are holed up inside a checkpoint.
PHILLIPS: I tell you what, soldiers have a lot on their hands there with Afghanistan, not just the fighting, but the drugs, obviously.
Gregory Lee, Chris Lawrence, appreciate it.
Well, how do you have 11 bodies in your house before the law catches on? Cleveland's city council wants an independent investigation to find out how police and others missed the signs and the stench from Anthony Sowell's house. He's a registered sex offender and got frequent checks from the sheriff's office.
The family of Tanya Carmichael wants answers, too. She's the first victim so far who's been identified. Tanya had been missing for about a year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONNITA CARMICHAEL, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER (via phone): This is what I've been saying since Monday, when, you know, we were called to the coroner's office, and since this story broke, we automatically knew that this was going to be her. All of these women have not yet been identified... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
CARMICHAEL: Fortunately, my mother was the first victim to be identified, and that gives us closure on a -- knowing where she is, but we're not happy about the way the police are trying to spin it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the coroner says that most all the victims probably died from strangulation. Sowell is in jail without bond.
And while we're on the subject of sex offenders and missed opportunities, a new report suggests that California parole officers really botched the Jaycee Dugard case. A registered sex offender accused of kidnapping and raping her, holding her captive for 18 years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CATE, CALIFORNIA CORRECTIONS SECRETARY: We agree that serious errors were made over the last ten years. We obviously deeply regret any error that could have possibly resulted in the victims living under these conditions for even one additional day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The California inspector general's report says that corrections didn't inspect Garrido's property the way it should have, failed to supervise parole officers assigned to his case, and listed Garrido -- get this -- as a low-risk offender.
You know, we've talked a lot about the things that went wrong in that gang rape case in Richmond, California, not just the alleged perps but the teens who allegedly watched, laughed and took pictures with their cell phones. Today, we're going to talk about the one teen who did the right thing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, he went back to a storm-tossed city to help rebuild it. Now, we're helping him rebuild. Miles Granderson, you're our "30-Second Pitch." Get ready.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right, let's hope these numbers keep going down. First-time claims for unemployment benefits are at a ten-month low. They dropped 20,000 last week to 512,000.
Continuing claims fell 68,000 to about 5.75 million.
And those numbers are moving in the right direction, but they're still very high. But the good news is, help could be on the way. The Senate has passed a bill that would extend jobless benefits nationwide, and that's not all. It also includes an extension of the first-time home buyer tax credit. Susan Lisovicz joins us now to break it all down for us.
So, Susan, why don't we start with the jobless benefits?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's a whole lot of stimulus. I mean, the fact is, you know, we've got three -- we've received already three jobs reports this week, and they all show improvement. But the fact is, still stinks. Jobs -- jobs market still stinks.
And that's why the Senate is voting to extend jobless benefits for a third time. It would extend benefits by 14 weeks in all states, 20 weeks in states with high unemployment.
Who's spaying for it? Well, employers. They will be taxed. I'm sure they will not like that.
Today's weekly jobless claims shows that 4 million Americans are on extended benefits. Two million people are set to exhaust all of their benefits by the end of the year. And that is why the Senate and the House are both working on their own versions. They have to be reconciled. But I think it's a given that we're going to have an extension for a third time, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, what about the first-time home buyers?
LISOVICZ: Ah, yes. More stimulus. The home-buyer tax credit, as you know, is set to expire by the end of this month. What we would see, with this version from the Senate, is it would be extended to mid-year 2010. The house would have to close by June 30.
It would also expand who could apply. So, if you -- what you see currently is you would receive $8,000 if you rented for three years. But, in this extension, you could receive $6,500 if you've been in your current home for five years or more. So, it's more inclusive.
It also raises the income cap: for single filers, up to $125,000; for joint filers, up to $225,000.
It's costly, $11 billion. But certainly, the numbers bear it out, that a lot of people are using it. The National Association of Realtors says by the time this extension is done, nearly 2 million home buyers will have used this credit -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Susan, thanks.
OK.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Let's stop talking numbers and find someone a job, shall we? You work for the nation's biggest labor union, great job security, right? Well, don't say that to Miles Granderson. A lawyer and dad to a 20-month-old daughter, laid off from the Service Employees International Union in August. Plus, he's in one of the moist battered job markets in the nation, post-Katrina New Orleans, where he returned home to help rebuild and where jobs for professional people are pretty tough to find.
Miles Granderson joins us from NOLA. He reached out to us, and today he's our "30-Second Pitch."
So Miles, what happened? I've looked at your resume, and you've had tons of experience.
MILES GRANDERSON, JOB SEEKER: Well, I think you pretty much pointed it out, Kyra, you know, some bad timing. And New Orleans never was the best place for professional employment before or after the storm, and it still isn't, particularly in this economy.
PHILLIPS: So but even -- I mean, I've been back to New Orleans a lot. And it seems that it's really kind of hit and miss. I mean, a lot of people were able to keep their jobs, to actually gain work. It just sort of depended on -- on what field you were in. And a lot of it storm-related.
Did you find that? Do you think you're too specialized for -- for what's available there?
GRANDERSON: I think that's exactly right. You know, in New Orleans, it really does depend on -- on what you're doing, what your area is. In my case, the union that I worked for was -- was nice enough to be doing, basically, a nonprofit mission in New Orleans and wasn't really gaining anything from it in terms of members or in terms of, you know, finances.
So, it just became a situation where, with the economy going down, you know, they had to get rid of some nonessential services, and this was probably one of them.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's try and help you out. Are you ready for your "30-Second Pitch"?
GRANDERSON: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: All right, let's start the clock. Miles, take it away.
GRANDERSON: Hi, Miles Granderson. I'm licensed to practice law in Louisiana and Washington, D.C. I spent the past several years as a law fellow with the nation's largest labor union and before that as a law clerk with the U.S. Department of Commerce, so I have significant experience with legal research and writing.
But beyond that, I've taught a law class in a Washington public high school. I've been a senator's intern, and I've also helped manage a nonprofit in New Orleans. So, my experience is both rich and broad.
But, pairing all that with the fact that I have a high level of competence and aptitude and diligence, I believe I can be a strong asset to your firm or organization.
PHILLIPS: You were almost there. You got it. Miles, thanks so much. Let us know what happens if you get any input, OK?
GRANDERSON: All right. Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You bet. Once again, here's Miles' e-mail. It's GrandersonPitch@hotmail.com. We're going to have his resume posted on our blog: CNN.com/Kyra. And if you want to be part of the "Pitch," e- mail your resume at 30secondpitch@CNN.com or tweet us at KyraCNN. Another pitch coming up next hour.
Illegal immigrants don't have their pick of jobs. American farmers don't have their pick of workers. Parallel problems growing an unusual alliance, one that farmers don't want Uncle Sam to uproot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to the White House briefing. This is something we don't see very often, the president of the United States taking to the mike.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... just talk a little bit about health care before Robert Gibbs' regular briefing.
I am extraordinarily pleased and grateful to learn that both the AARP and the American Medical Association are both supporting the health-insurance reform bill that will soon come up to a vote in the House of Representatives.
When it comes to the AARP, this is no small endorsement. For more than 50 years, they have been a leader in the fight to reduce the costs of health care and expand coverage for our senior citizens. They are a nonpartisan organization, and their board made their decision to endorse only after a careful, intensive, objective scrutiny of this bill.
They're endorsing this bill because they know it will strengthen Medicare, not jeopardize it. They know it will protect the benefits our seniors receive, not cut them. So, I want everybody to remember that the next time you hear the same tired arguments to the contrary from the insurance companies and their lobbyists, and remember this endorsement the next time you see a bunch of misleading ads on television.
The AARP knows this bill will make health care more affordable. They know it will make coverage more secure. They know it's a good deal for our seniors, and that's why we're thrilled that they're standing up for this effort.
The same is true for the doctors and medical professionals who are supporting this bill today. These are men and women who know our health-care system best and have been watching this debate closely.
They would not be supporting it if they really believed that it would lead to government bureaucrats making decisions that are best left to doctors. They would not be with us if they believed that reform would in any way damage the critical and sacred doctor/patient relationship.
Instead, they're supporting reform, because they've seen firsthand what's broken about our health-care system. They've seen what happens when patients can't get the care they need, because some insurance company has decided to drop their coverage or water it down. They've seen what happens when a patient's forced to pay out-of-pocket costs of thousands of dollars that she doesn't have to get the treatment she desperately needs.
They've seen what happens when patients don't come in for regular checkups or screenings, because either their insurance company doesn't cover them or they can't afford health insurance in the first place. And they've seen far, far too much of their time spent filling out forms and haggling with insurance-company bureaucrats.
So, the doctors of America know what needs to be fixed about our health-care system. They know that health insurance reform would go a long way toward doing that.
We are closer to passing this reform than ever before. And now that the doctors and medical professionals of America are standing with us, now that the organizations charged with looking out for the interests of seniors are standing with us, we are even closer.
I want to thank both organizations, again, for their support, and I urge Congress to listen to AARP, listen to the AMA, and pass this reform for hundreds of millions of Americans who will benefit from it. Thanks.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to endorse the health bill -- will you endorse the health bill?
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: All right. Now, that the warm-up band has finished playing. I probably only get to say that once or twice in my life. I might as well try today, right?
Yes, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What prompted the president to come out today and make that statement, which sounded pretty tough?
OBAMA: Look, I think what prompted the president's coming down here to deliver that statement were two very important endorsements for health-care reform. One by the doctors, support by the doctors, and support by the organization that represents seniors in this country. I think, as you heard the president say, we're closer to getting health-care reform than we've ever been, and I think today's endorsements bring us even closer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I ask a second question?
GIBBS: Sure. PHILLIPS: As you heard from the president, also Robert Gibbs there, House Democrats picked up a huge endorsement for the health- care reform bill today. The American Medical Association now backing the bill. They say it's not perfect but close enough. Also on board, as you heard, AARP, the nation's biggest seniors' group.
You don't see the president of the United States come off very -- come out very often and start the press briefing before Robert Gibbs, so that sort of surprised everybody. And you heard, obviously, one of the reporters ask why he was compelled to do that.
That news just in to CNN and the confirmation by the president and also Robert Gibbs, that supports why he did that.
We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, nothing makes the law's job harder than silence. Think about it. How many times have we heard how kids who didn't want to snitch made an investigation tougher?
Well, we heard it in Chicago. A brick wall of silence as detectives tried to figure out who beat 16-year-old Derrion Albert to death as others watched.
Snitching also a player near Miami, showing how dangerous it can be. A 15-year-old boy set afire after apparently calling the cops about a stolen bike.
And in Richmond, California, not-so-innocent bystanders allegedly watch as others rape a 15-year-old girl. No one calls the cops. No one wants to be a snitch.
But one Richmond teen refused to be part of that no-snitching culture. She knew something terrible had happened, refused to keep it to herself, and did the right thing.
Here's Heather Holmes with our Oakland affiliate, KTVU.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEATHER HOLMES, KTVU CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New, brighter lights were being installed at Richmond High School in and around the area where a 15-year-old girl was raped, beaten, and robbed by as many as 10 young men while as many as 20 watched it happen. Students and school officials agree this narrow alley that a few picnic tables, Dumpsters and vehicles all share has been dimly-lit for far too long.
VARGAS: I was shocked. I'm like -- you know, I couldn't really believe it.
HOLMES: This former student describes the area of the sprawling 200,000-square-foot campus as deserted. She's the one that did what no one else had the decency to do n October 24, and that was to notify police. VARGAS: I wouldn't want anybody to -- to hurt me and get away with it or people to know about it and not do anything about it.
HOLMES: The 18-year-old says the night of the attack a family member heard three males bragging about the hours-long gang rape and, despite a no-snitching culture, the young mother immediately dialed 911.
VARGAS: You know, I have feeling for her. I wouldn't want that girl to die or anything, you know? So, I feel like if it weren't for me, she would have been dead.
HOLMES: When police arrived, they found the young victim semiconscious, naked and curled up under a picnic table. Since the attack, the school board, administrators of a billion-dollar bond program, has been accused of moving slowly on a new surveillance system and fence at Richmond High.
ROBERT BROWER, EL SOBRANTE RESIDENT: We have $1.2 million to do this project now, and we had $1.2 million five months ago and 12 months ago because the taxpayers gave you those monies.
HOLMES: The board finally awarded the contract for 120 digital cameras at Richmond High to be monitored by police.
CHARLES RAMSEY, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER: The security cameras that we have will be linked to the City of Richmond and the City of San Pablo so that they'll be effective.
HOLMES: School board trustee Charles Ramsey says the cameras should be up and running within three months, with construction on that new fence beginning within 30 days.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And we'll follow up on that, that's for sure. That was Heather Holmes reporting for us. We'll keep following the story with her and also our Dan Simon, who's there.
Pet owners, listen up. A cat in Iowa has caught swine flu, the first feline in the nation to be officially diagnosed with H1N1. So, now animal lovers are asking, could Fido carry the flu, too? Well, the American Veterinary Medical Association says the virus has already been found in pigs, birds, even ferrets. But they say catching the flu from a different species is pretty rare, and when it does happen, people usually get their pets sick, not the other way around.
Pets are sick, people are sick, and everyone wants to avoid catching flu. But the holiday season is right around the corner, and that means cramped planes, packed parties, plenty of contact with sneezy strangers.
Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here to talk about how close is too close. Are we too close, and how are you feeling?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, I feel just fine. I'm hoping you also feel just fine. We're about, what do you think, a foot away from each other or so?
PHILLIPS: Yes, a foot and a half or so.
COHEN: A foot and a half or so.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
COHEN: If one of us had H1N1 and sneezed or coughed and didn't cover it, we could get the other one sick. And that would be true even if we were six feet apart. If you're six feet away from someone, and they cough or sneeze, you can get them sick.
And I want to show you something. I was on an escalator recently. We were doing a story. And you can see that within six feet of me, once these other folks come up behind me, there were probably five or six people within six feet of me.
Again, if any one of them had had the flu or a similar virus and sneezed or coughed and didn't cover it completely, I could get sick from them. So, it's really quite easy.
PHILLIPS: All right, tell us what we need to do to avoid other people's germs.
COHEN: OK, well, I couldn't do it on the escalator because I was stuck there, but once I got off the escalator, what you want to do is you want to be vigilant. Look around. If people look sick, coughing or sneezing, get away from them. It may seem -- it's so simple. You can walk away, walk to a different area.
Now, getting back to that escalator. I was standing there with my hand on the rail. What I should have done is, when I got to the top was sanitize my hands. Just carry hand sanitizer with you, and when you've touched something that, like, you know, several thousand other people have touched before you, just sanitize your hands. It's pretty easy.
PHILLIPS: All right. That is easy. What about flying on airplanes where you have no choice to move away from somebody?
COHEN: Right. I got on the plane a couple weeks ago, and the person sitting next to me was sneezing her head off. And I was like, oh, great, this is wonderful. I am stuck next to her for four hours.
But there are things you can do if you're stuck on a plate next to -- a plane next to Mr. or Ms. Sneezy. First of all, you can try to find another seat. That's always a good idea. Ask to be moved to an empty spot.
You can also turn your body away from a sick person. You can also turn an air vent -- turn your air vent towards the sick person. That won't necessarily do a whole ton, but it will at least sort of getting the air flowing away from you.
Also, now, this one will make you uncomfortable, but you can do it. Ask the flight attendant quietly if they can offer the sick person a mask. The flight attendant can say, look, you know, you don't look well. Do you mind wearing a mask?
And I want to show you a really great animation that we have from Purdue University. What that shows, see that person in red? They're sneezing. Those are germs from a sneeze, and as you can see, they go pretty far.
You're not just getting the next person sick, you're getting a whole bunch of people sick if you don't cover your mouth. In a second, you will see some people turn to pink. And what that pink is going to mean is that those people there -- see them there, they're flashing? Those people are in a hot zone. They could get sick from that one sneezer.
PHILLIPS: Wow, I never even thought about behind and to the far left.
COHEN: I know, right, exactly.
PHILLIPS: That puts it in perspective.
COHEN: It certainly does.
PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: OK, thanks.
PHILLIPS: Well, first responders first in line. New York's first responders are getting dibs on swine flu shots. Starting today, they can line up for the vaccine as part of the fire department's annual biopod drill. That drill tests the city's response to chemical, biological and nuclear incidents. But the department says offering up the vaccine will keep first responders from taking the flu home to their families.
Snap, crackle and pop all you want. But if you want to avoid the flu, you still may need a shot. Now, we told you on Monday about this flap surrounding that big word "immunity" on boxes of Cocoa Krispies and other Kellogg's cereals. Nutritionists found it pretty hard to swallow, but Kellogg's says those cereals are fortified with vitamins which help boost immunity.
Now, though, the company's dropping that claim, and health experts are turning their sights on Nestle, which makes similar claims with Juicy Juice. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, much of the food on your table was picked by immigrant workers, many of them illegal. With calls to kick them out of the country growing even louder, a lot of American farmers are saying reform immigration or just look the other way.
Here's CNN's Jason Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kyra, we literally eat the fruits of their labor. Immigrants who do the dirty work for farmers that many Americans won't do. Now, some farmers are worried a new focus on those who hire illegal immigrants may put some of them out of business.
(voice-over): They're the backbone of the agriculture industry, workers toiling in apple orchards like this one in Yakima, Washington, climbing, picking, bagging thousands of apples on this chilly morning, earning little more than minimum wage.
The orchard's owner, Rob Valicoff, oversees all 1,200 acres.
ROB VALICOFF, FARMER: Come on, guys, we don't need to pick this green crap. (INAUDIBLE)
I guess I'm done ranting and raving.
CARROLL: Done ranting? Not for a minute.
CARROLL (on camera): And you can't find domestic U.S. workers or U.S. citizens to come out and do this work?
VALICOFF: No. We've had some out here, but they just don't last.
CARROLL (voice-over): Valicoff says he relies on migrant workers, many of whom come from Mexico. He checks their paperwork, but that's no guarantee they're here legally. He suspects up to 70 percent of his workforce may not be legal, and he says he's not alone.
VALICOFF: You think on the farms this size in the state of Washington that I'm the only farm that doesn't have anybody here that's illegally here? We all have them. We don't know who they are because we're not -- we can't by law ask them, are you a legal worker, are you a legal citizen?
CARROLL: Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief John Morton says the agency has shifted under the Obama administration. The focus not just on workers here illegally, but on the employers who hire them.
But in an interview this past August, Morton told me the agency still wants to work with employers trying to do the right thing.
JOHN MORTON, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: The only way we're going to make headway is to enter into a focused partnership with employers, and so there is going to be a bit of a carrot and a bit of a stick.
CARROLL: Valicoff knows agriculture and wonders, where's the carrot? As for the stick, he's facing thousands of dollars in fines for his workers' documents not being in order.
VALICOFF: Very frustrating, very. CARROLL: Though not required, ICE says employers like Valicoff should use their system called e-Verfy to validate a worker's Social Security number. However, immigration attorney Tom Roach says ICE doesn't require e-Verify because they know the reality of the workforce.
TOM ROACH, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: If e-Verify was required, the farmers in America would go broke because they would find out that 70 percent of their farm workers are illegal, period.
CARROLL: Valicoff doesn't think e-Verify is the answer for farmers either. He says immigration reform is.
CARROLL (on camera): And in the meantime?
VALICOFF: Same old, same old. Look the other way.
CARROLL (on camera): Kyra, a spokesman for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says they've been holding roundtable discussions around the country for several months with law enforcement and officials who work along the border to hear their ideas for immigration reform.
The president wants to see some movement on reform by the beginning of next year -- Kyra.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Thanks so much, Jason.
Well, he's a proud American who's bravely served his country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've got seven members of your family who are in the armed forces.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. Three of us have been to Iraq, some of us twice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now that he's back home, a California soldier could lose his wife. He's a veteran. He's battling PTSD. And now he's forced to fight a whole new battle.
Another body in Cleveland's "house of death." Police have now found the remains of 11 people at the home of a registered sex offender. They've identified one victim as Tanya Carmichael, a 52- year-old missing for a year. Now a city councilman wants to investigate why police and health officials didn't pursue complaints of a stench in that area.
Lie to the White House, brace for the big house. Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik has pleaded guilty to fibbing about his financial dealings with businesses look for city contracts. Prosecutors say that the lies came in 2004 while he was being vetted to head up the Homeland Security Department. They're recommending a 27- to 33-month prison term.
They flew a Northwest passenger plane 150 miles past their intended landing strip in Minneapolis, and now two pilots have filed an appeal to get back in the cockpit. The NTSB yanked their licenses after last month's wayward flight. Now Captain Timothy Cheney and First Officer Richard Cole will have a hearing with a judge.
A hurricane after halloween, it doesn't happen very often, so, Chad Myers, what's going on?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It doesn't happen more than one time in five years, and we have one here. We had one, we had one, Kyra, until it made landfall. Now it's back to a T.S., back to tropical storm Ida. And that's what happens when you take a hurricane that's in water and you move it over land. The land is not warm, and it's not water. And it just begins to lose its intensity.
Now it's going to reemerge back in another basically very warm area of water, not that far north of Honduras. So, here we are. Here's the U.S., the Gulf of Mexico way up here. And then here's Nicaragua, Honduras and Cancun.
So, it looks like by Monday, by Monday this could be very close to Cozumel. So, if you're on a cruise ship, maybe your cruise ship may change plans a little bit. They don't want to be in a 50- or 60- mile-per-hour storm for sure. They may go one way or go left or go right. Just kind of get used to that. That's going to be the norm.
It is still going to be a 65-mile-per-hour storm for the next few hours, then down to a 40-mile-per-hour storm, and then possibly it will regenerate up into the Gulf of mexico. We'll have to see.
One other thing of interest today? Snow and hail near Buffalo. I've already got one iReport. I would love to see more from what's happening off of Lake Erie now. Cold air, very cold air, aloft. Rainshowers coming in. And sometimes this rain has been turning into some soft hail covering the ground.
I know Buffalo people like me, from (INAUDIBLE), used to early snows and snow on the jack-o'-lantern and all that, but kind of a, if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes, it will change kind of day in western New York -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Chad, thanks.
MYERS: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Well, are you a know-it-all when it comes to news? Then get ready for a pop quiz, hotshot. Today we're unveiling a new site called CNNchallenge.com, and Josh Levs is here with all the details.
So, Josh, have you been stumped yet? Be honest. JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what? There was one that stumped me. In the lightning round, you had to answer the question with a country, but you had to know which flag it was, and I had no idea. And there was no encyclopedia I could get to within 30 seconds.
PHILLIPS: Do you know the -- what did it end up being?
LEVS: Iceland. And so, it was Iceland.
PHILLIPS: OK, who would know Iceland's flag?
LEVS: And I'm not giving it away, because you have to know the flag anyway to get it right.
PHILLIPS: OK.
LEVS: But check this out. By the way, you know that a Web site is really important if it has opening dramatic music. Let's zoom into this.
There you go. The new CNNchallenge.com has taken off today. It's getting a lot of traffic since we've been talking about it this morning. It was in the top ten on Google Trends.
And this here is the idea. It brings you inside our system, and you can pick on -- pick one -- pick on -- you can pick one of our CNN anchors here who are taking part in this. You just click on them, and they'll each give you a reason why you should choose them.
For example, let's listen to Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, you and me, we'll be a team. Pick me.
LEVS: And let's see. Thanks, Soledad. Let's go over to Rick.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Come on, pick me. Wolf picks the really hard questions. I'm your guy.
LEVS: He actually is our guy for this segment. Let's stick with Ricky for a little bit. We're going to go over to the actual test itself here, and what we'll do is we'll show you how this works. Now, there are various rounds to this, but I'm taking you into one of the tougher sections of it.
We're going to skip the first round, and we're going to go straight into this. We're going to click "begin," and it's going to start with round two. And this shows us some of the questions that have deemed to be a little bit tougher.
For example, "Who was awarded Major League Baseball's 2009 Roberto Clemente Award for community service and excellence on the field?" And you can see you only have 30 seconds to answer. Boom, Derek Jeter. If you get it right, it shows you that you got it right.
Now, the questions do get even tougher. And we've got something interesting we're doing here. We're going to go down to our CNN atrium now, where our TV Web intern, Jessica Harrison (ph), is with a group of people. And Jessica, you're going to present the next question to them.
JESSICA HARRISON (ph), CNN INTERN: I am. I am. I have a very, very great group of people here who are very excited to answer this question for you. So, let's take a look at this question that they're going to answer. Let's turn around, guys. Let's see if we can get this graphic up.
LEVS: All right, you're going to read it to us on the big screen in the bit atrium down there.
HARRISON: All right, what caused the San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge to close for almost a week? Was it earthquake damage, a tanker truck fire, fallen pieces of steel or a failed inspection? All right, we're going to give these guys a little bit of time think about this question.
Back up to you, Josh.
LEVS: Thank you. And, guys, we're actually going to let all of you weigh in as well. Those are your options. Earthquake damage, a tanker truck fire, fallen pieces of steel or a failed inspection. During the upcoming break, let's show the screen where you can send us your answers.
We're up and going at the blog, CNN.com/josh. Also Facebook and Twitter, joshlevsCNN. Send us your answer, and in a matter of seconds we'll tell you if you're right.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEVS: We're back in the NEWSROOM. I'm Josh Levs. We're showing you the new cnnchallenge.com. And here's the question we left you off with before the break: "What caused the San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge to close for almost a week?" A few options for your answers there, and Jessica Harrison (ph) down at the CNN atrium with a bunch of visitors who, as we understand it, have a guess -- Jessica.
HARRISON: All right, you guys have an answer, is that right?
CROWD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fallen pieces of steel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: C is the answer.
HARRISON: C, fallen piece of steel. Final answer? Perfect, that's our answer.
LEVS: All right, thanks Jessica, and thanks to the folks down there. You all did very well, and I'm happy to say during the break we got messages by Facebook and Twitter, too, that you all were getting it right. So, who knows? Maybe you'll only be stumped by the much, much tougher questions. Keep playing, and eventually you'll see the one I was talking about where you've got to figure out the country Iceland and then which map it is, all on cnnchallenge.com.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: You got it, thanks.
PHILLIPS: All right, this story begs the question: What would Chuck Taylor do? We're talking about the University of Central Florida basketball team, the UCF Knightmare, with a K, by the way. The final year of its shoe contract with Adidas yanked, gone in a swoosh all because one player insisted on wearing Air Jordans at a preseason game.
So who's the rogue freshman guard, this rebel in Nikes? Marcus Jordan. Yes, Air Jordan, Jr. He wore the family footwear for sentimental reasons. Maybe he was wearing Hanes underwear, too. We didn't ask.
Well, the contract was worth a big chunk of change. It makes you wonder if Nike will step up and shoe up the team, or how about His Airness making up the difference. This story does prove that there is no I in team, but there is a rather large one in Nike.
He wanted to see her dead. Instead, the D.C. sniper is counting down to his own demise. We're pushing forward next hour on next week's execution with the ex-wife of John Allen Muhammad.
Plus, wife of a war hero and mom of two little kids, brought to this country when she was a kid, illegally. Now her soldier husband's fighting PTSD and his own government to keep the family whole.
The tent city's gone now, but the desperation remains. As Sacramento's homeless brace for a long, cold winter, the city's mayor warms to the challenge of finding every single one of them homes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, this is how Neda's mother would like to remember her, warm eyes, bright smile. But seared into her mind is the first image the world saw of her daughter, the lifeless face of the Iranian opposition of the government's brutal crackdown on protesters in the weeks after June's disputed presidential vote.
CNN's Octavia Nasr reports. And a warning: Some of those images you're about to see are pretty graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN EDITOR OF MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS: The anguish of losing a daughter. On the 21st of June, Neda Agha-Soltan was laid to rest, a tragic symbol of the protests that gripped Iran. She was shot as she walked to her car after a demonstration.
For her mother, Hajar Rostami, it was the first day of a pain that will never heal. Neda's last moments were captured on video and flashed around the world. Her mother could only watch it once. It is the look of death in her eyes, she says.
Hajar Rostami spoke to CNN from Tehran a few days ago. She told us that look is with her every morning when she wakes up and every night when she goes to sleep. Neda was strong and brave, she says, in a whisper in her native Farsi.
Neda's mother says she approved of her actions and that she participated in demonstrations as well. She tells us the family wasn't with Mousavi or against Ahmadinejad, but demonstrated for freedom. She says her daughter's killer is still at large, but she hopes justice will be served.
"I am waiting for that day," she adds.
Rostami is proud of her daughter and grateful for the support from across the world. Rostami visits her daughter's grave every Friday. People go and write on her grave in red ink the word "martyr,"she says, and then the authorities go and wipe it off.
"I always saw Neda as a martyr," she whispers. "Neda was a martyr for her homeland."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Neda's mother spoke with CNN's Octavia Nasr and (INAUDIBLE) from Tehran. You can read that full interview at CNN.com/world.
