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Troops, Families Prepare for Afghanistan Surge; Debt Collector Diatribes Raising Concerns; Family of Pearl Harbor Veteran Keeps History Alive

Aired December 08, 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: And CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Kyra Phillips.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I see you, I'm going to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you up. I want my money and I want it now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In debt to the mob? Nope, just late with a mortgage payment, or three. Times are tough, and so are some collection agencies. You won't believe your ears.

He'd die for his country, but for lack of a colonoscopy? A Navy vet denied by the V.A. for years now in the fight of his life. You'll meet him live this hour.

And you can take the gang member out of the hood, or the gang member can bring tourists into the hood at 65 bucks a pop. L.A. gang tours, empowerment or exploitation?

Hello, everyone. Our top story right now stretches from Kabul to Capitol Hill. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on an unannounced visit to the Afghan capital. General Stanley McChrystal and U.S. ambassador Karl Eikenberry in back-to-back hearings before a divided Congress.

The missions are the same: promote, explain, defend U.S. strategy for the next 18 months of the war. It centers on 30,000 additional U.S. troops, 7,000 more NATO troops. Ambassador Eikenberry was known to be skeptical. Now, though, he's on board.

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KARL EIKENBERRY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AFGHANISTAN: We're concentrating on what is essential and what is obtainable. The president's strategy is based on upon a pragmatic assessment of the security interests of the United States of America and our belief that a sustainable, representative government and a sustainable economy in Afghanistan are essential to our success. We need a viable Afghan government so our forces can draw down and the investment of U.S. taxpayer dollars can be reduced.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Now, the ambassador and the general begin their second round of testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee today. We'll listen in.

Meantime, let's head to the starting point of this surge. Hundreds of Marines will ship out from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, days from now. And as CNN's Chris Lawrence reports, hundreds of families are preparing for it.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, how would you spend today, how would you treat your family if you only had a few weeks left? It's not a hypothetical, but the other side of this huge new deployment.

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LAWRENCE (voice-over): Five-year-old Thomas, 3-year-old Georgia, and baby Katherine (ph), the family that's getting ready to say good- bye to Lieutenant Dan Durbin.

LT. DAN DURBIN, U.S. MARINES: I'm hanging, yes.

LAWRENCE: He's one of 1,500 Marines who just got orders to Afghanistan, they'll be gone within the month.

(on camera): What are some of the things you're already doing as a family?

KIM DURBIN, WIFE OF DAN DURBIN: Well, we're talking to my 5- year-old a lot about it.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Reality is crashing down on Kim Durbin. She's going to have to be Mom and Dad.

K. DURBIN: Oh, it's scary. It's very frightening trying to be the one that spanks the kid and being the one that hugs the kid, you know? You're doing everything.

LAWRENCE: Once deployed, it's not easy reconnecting with family. Marines just back from southern Afghanistan say they were able to call home or e-mail every four to six weeks, if that.

(on camera): Are you prepared not to be able to talk to him for, say, you know, a month at a time maybe?

K. DURBIN: I don't know how you prepare for that. But you just got to do what you got to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In some ways I would say obviously the southern...

LAWRENCE (voice-over): The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff told Marines they'll be deployed to Helmand province, one of the most violent areas of Afghanistan. They seem excited to go, but some young Marines wonder, can they do in real combat what they've only done in training? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll see how I rate (ph). It goes down in a couple weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best thing you can hope for is that you personally know yourself that you're not going to freeze up.

LAWRENCE: These last few days can be the hardest. Kim's husband, the kids' dad will be gone before the new year.

K. DURBIN: Well, we're thankful that he's going to be with us for Christmas, so we're just trying to enjoy the time we have together. I think when we actually say good -- it's going to be hard. But we'll get through it. And we want to enjoy the time we do have together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (on camera): Kim says the only thing that makes it bearable is having so many other families around her that are going through the exact same thing. By the end of spring, 16,000 more American troops will be on the ground in Afghanistan, so she definitely won't be alone -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Chris Lawrence, thanks so much.

And don't forget: we're going to hear from the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and the U.S. ambassador at the bottom of the hour, live testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It's a big pot of money. Billions of dollars big. And that's the dough suddenly available from the government's bank bailout. Just a short time ago President Obama spelled out how he'd like to create it to create jobs. Jobs he stressed are desperately needed.

Here's some of the key points: updating the nation's transportation system by building more roads and bridges; making homes more energy efficient; and helping small businesses add staff and growth. Mr. Obama says that we've got to take those steps to speed up the pace of job growth.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, our work is far from done. For even though we've reduced the deluge of job losses to a relative trickle, we are not yet creating jobs at a pace to help all those families who have been swept up in the flood.

There are more than 7 million fewer Americans with jobs today than when this recession began. That's a staggering figure. And one that reflects not only the depths of the hole from which we must ascend, but also a continuing human tragedy.

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PHILLIPS: Even before Mr. Obama spoke, republicans took out their axes, attacking the president's plan, Senator John McCain mincing few words.

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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Whenever you're dealing with these huge amounts of money, it requires the closest kind of supervision.

I think it's pretty clear that billions and billions and billions, as much as 50 already, have been spent on projects that don't create jobs. That's really, really bad news for America's taxpayers, especially in my state, as well as across America.

In my state, real unemployment is 17 percent. We rank second in homes underwater as far as home-loan mortgages being less of value than the mortgage payments, and serious economic problems, and we're going to spend money on ants (ph).

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PHILLIPS: Also, how do you feel about efforts to jump start the economy? Not so good, based on the latest CNN/Opinion Research poll.

And check it out, a majority of Americans say that things are going badly with the economy right now. Around a third think things are going well. That's still 14 points less than we saw a year ago in the thick of the financial crisis. And it's six points better than people were feeling, actually, in May. But it's down from last month's numbers, when 37 percent were showing confidence in the economy.

Call him the debt collector from hell.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You haven't heard the last of me. And if it takes me a year or it takes me two, believe me, I will find you.

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PHILLIPS: Debt collectors going to the extreme, and then some. What can you do to protect yourself? Nightmares and tips. Straight ahead.

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PHILLIPS: OK. Many of us have gone face to face with debt collectors. Some are nice folks, sort of. But what do you do, or what can you do if the debt collector is a real jerk? Not just a common jerk, but a lowdown, evil jerk?

Our John Zarrella now with some nightmare experiences and a few helpful tips.

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JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's how debt collectors are supposed to treat you on the phone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to inform you and I am obligated to inform you that this is an attempt to collect a debt.

ZARRELLA: This is how they're not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stanley McLeod, you need to call Green Tree and get your act together and make your payments on your mortgage and quit playing these games.

ZARRELLA: Diane McLeod says the call is one of hundreds her husband got before he died of heart failure.

(on camera): How many phone calls a day would you get?

DIANE MCLEOD, WIFE OF STANLEY MCLEOD: Six, seven. There might have been more.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): McLeod is now suing Green Tree Servicing LLC with using harassing tactics that broke Florida law and, she claims, led to her husband's death.

MCLEOD: The stress just built up within him. He had trouble sleeping, not eating well. The stress was getting worse and worse for him.

ZARRELLA: The company's general counsel told CNN, quote, "The collection activity did not lead to his death. The claim is meritless. We deny that the content, the number, or the timing of the calls had anything to do with him dying in 2005," end quote.

After a heart attack and continuing heart problems, Stanley McLeod went on disability in 2002. The McLeods fell behind about three months on their mortgage payments. The calls began. This one after explaining to the collector he had been life-flighted to the hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't you have that helicopter pick you up and bring that payment to the office?

ZARRELLA: Scare tactics, charges McLeod's attorney, Billy Howard.

BILLY HOWARD, CONSUMER ATTORNEY: That's how these mafia-like tactics result in so much money. People are scared.

ZARRELLA: Howard says this is not an isolated incident. He's got hundreds of cases involving other clients. Now, how would you feel if you got a call like this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I see you, I'm going to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you up. I want my money and I want it now.

ZARRELLA: Or this one?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You haven't heard the last of me. And if it takes me a year, takes me two, believe me, I will find you.

ANNA INGLETT, PHG RECOVERY SERVICES: We want them gone. We want all of them gone.

ZARRELLA: Anna Inglett runs a debt collection agency. She says collectors breaking the law should be prosecuted.

INGLETT: I feel like sometimes the industry is penalized for a few bad apples. And we try very hard here at our firm. We -- we absolutely make sure that we're in compliance.

ZARRELLA (on camera): With the recession, the number of people in debt has gone up, and so has the number of complaints against debt collection agencies.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, between January and June of this year, they received 45,000 complaints. That's up more than 20 percent over the same period last year. But the FTC has only one case pending, referring most complaints to the states for legal action to protect consumers. Attorneys say if you get harassing messages, do what Stanley McLeod did. Save the tapes.

John Zarrella, CNN, Tampa.

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PHILLIPS: So, what do you do if you're on the wrong end of a debt collector's diatribe, what rights do you actually have? CNN's Gerri Willis, our New York bureau, hopefully with some answers.

So press play and record on your Dictaphone, I'm guessing, is maybe your first suggestion. That is if you still have a Dictaphone, right?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, you know, record the call. Tape the call. Kyra, it's a good way to keep a debt collector in line, and you can get a recording of what was said.

Thirty-eight states allow you to secretly tape your phone conversation, and the other 12 states you can tape with the other party's permission. And if you tell the debt collector you're going to tame or she keeps talking, that's generally considered giving permission. But check in with your state attorney general's office to get the rules.

Look, abusive debt collectors are a big problem, according to the FTC. More complaints are lodged against the debt collection industry than any other, but there are strict laws about how debt collectors have to do business. Here are your rights.

They must identify themselves as debt collectors. They can't harass you, and they can't talk about your debt to anybody but you or your attorney. You shouldn't be getting phone calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. They can't threaten to sue you if they don't have any intention of doing so, and they can't misrepresent the amount you owe. Now, once you're contacted by telephone, you have a right to get a notice that outlines your debt, who you owe the money to, and what action to take if you don't owe them money -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. So what happens if these collectors do break the law and actually threaten you over the phone? We've actually seen examples of this.

WILLIS: If you think they're breaking the law, definitely file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. You can call them: 877- FTC-help or go to FTC.gov.

You should also contact your state attorney general's office, and, again, make sure you record those messages and any other communications you've had with the debt collector. You also have the right to sue a debt collector in state or federal court within a year of the date the law is violated.

So there's lots of actions to take, Kyra. You've really got to watch what happens, because, you know, some of these companies violate the law all the time.

PHILLIPS: We'll follow it, that's for sure. Thanks, Gerri. It's just not fair, you know, sometimes what these people go to.

WILLIS: No.

PHILLIPS: It's tough enough. Thanks, Gerri.

WILLIS: Yes, yes, it's not fair, but you can fight back is my point.

PHILLIPS: There we go. We always like to show our viewers how they can do that. Thanks, Gerri.

Heavy snow and brutal cold. A big storm is spreading misery, and it's heading your way. Jacqui Jeras is all over it, though. She's coming up next.

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PHILLIPS: Top stories now.

Law men with plenty of chops will lead the FBI's probe of its policies and practices before the shooting rampage at Fort Hood. William Webster appointed this morning. He's a former FBI and CIA director. The FBI has said that the accused gunman was on their radar last December as part of an unrelated terror investigation, but he didn't raise any red flags.

Suicide car bombings shatter weeks of relative calm in Baghdad. Five bombs went off in the Iraqi capital, killing at least 127 people, wounding hundreds of others. Government buildings were among those targets. It's the deadliest violence in Baghdad since late October.

Senate Democrats working on alternatives for a public option in their health-care reform bill. Liberals and moderates are meeting now. They're hoping to come up with a plan by today. It will take all 60 members of the Democratic caucus to pass that reform bill, but not all Democrats support the public option.

Well, it's got misery written all over it. A powerful winter storm spreading snow and rain over much of the country, right, Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. And you know what? Pictures tell 1,000 words, as they say, Kyra, and take a look at this. I would say that's misery, my friends, wouldn't you? This is Des Moines, Iowa, a live picture there from our affiliate, KCCI-TV, where a blizzard warning is in effect. Their temperature, 28 degrees, but it feels like 18.

And this is just basically light snow compared to what you're going to be getting late tonight when those winds begin to kick in, howling around 45-plus miles per hour, creating whiteout conditions. This is not quite whiteout as you can see the traffic, which continues to move across the area.

Chicago is looking a lot better at this hour, as you can see, but we're getting those occasional light flurries beginning to move in. You're under a winter weather advisory, and you're going to escape the brunt of the heavy snowfall accumulation. But Chicago is going to be getting some of that sleet and rain mixing in here. But winds will be a real problem tomorrow, which means it's going to be a tough travel day for you.

Chicago already looking at delays at O'Hare and Midway. And Atlanta has a ground stop if you're on the warm side of this storm, and you're going to be getting in some of the rain showers, some of which could be heavy, possibly severe later on tonight.

There's your latest radar picture showing you the big swath of snow across the Midwest. Around the I-80 corridor and I-35 especially dangerous throughout the day today. Snowfall accumulations very hefty. We'll say 7 to 14 inches in this area, and a good foot will be likely in many areas, especially north of Highway 30 and south of Interstate 94, throughout that area.

You've got heavy snow still coming down across parts of Colorado. Follow this system with wind chills that you just wouldn't believe. That's going to be falling especially as we head into our morning on Thursday.

Now, if you want a little more information for snowfall totals, our Web site of the day today is www.hpc.ncep -- or Nen Sep (ph) -- dot NOAA.gov. I know it's a little lengthy, but I'll put on it my Facebook page if you want to find it.

And you come over here. You click on "winter weather," and this is going to give you snowfall probabilities. You can see day one, day, two, day three. And if you click on each one, it will tell you what the probability of seeing 4 inches of snow, 8 inches of snow or 10 inches of snow or more. And unfortunately, it's not clicking for me. I wanted to show you one of these. So you could -- there you can see where it's got the big bullet. So this is for more than 12 inches of snow, you can see, near Omaha up towards Des Moines and just north of the Milwaukee area. They've got at least a 40 percent chance of that, not fantastic odds -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, Jacqui.

Well, a declaration of war prompted by a day of infamy. Sixty- eight years ago today, the U.S. entered World War II, a day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. More than 2,200 sailors, Marines, and soldiers were killed, many of them still entombed in the submerged USS Arizona.

But now we're seeing a piece of history surface from that battleship. One family decided it's just too important to keep it in their house. Their keepsake, now a national treasure. Theron Zahn from CNN affiliate KOMO reports.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A hundred Japanese planes and a number of submarines took part in the attack.

THERON ZAHN, KOMO REPORTER (voice-over): The sneak attack by Japan sent over a dozen U.S. ships to the bottom of Pearl Harbor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In an hour and five minutes, the battleship Arizona was completely destroyed.

ZAHN: Over 1,000 sailors died when the Arizona burned. In the middle of the battle, Willis Partridge, a signalman on the Coast Guard cutter Taney.

RICK PARTRIDGE, SON OF PEARL HARBOR VETERAN: There's my dad, 17 at Diamond Head.

ZAHN: For years his son didn't know about his father's role December 7, 1941. He rarely talked about it.

PARTRIDGE: Very little. We found most of what he did in the service after he passed away, which ironically was December 7, last year.

ZAHN: In his home, they found this: a pulley from the mast of the Arizona.

PARTRIDGE: Here's the pulley that the line would have gone through to raise the pennant.

ZAHN: Right after the attack, partridge salvaged the part to raise the flag on the Taney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Taney was the shop that brought the Arizona back to war because of the parts they kept on their mast. ZAHN: Years later, during an overhaul, Partridge reclaimed the part to preserve it.

PARTRIDGE: I felt that this was just too important to keep in the family. It really is.

ZAHN: Rick is taking the pulley back to a maritime museum in Baltimore.

PARTRIDGE: It does bring chills. Every time I touch it or look at it, it king of sends shivers down my back to think about what was going on at this moment in time, in history.

ZAHN: Thanks to a humble Coast Guardsman, a piece of the past will have a piece of the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Once again, that was Theron Zahn from KOMO, our affiliate there in Seattle.

For survivors of Pearl Harbor, the attack remains as vivid today as it was 68 years ago. One former U.S. gunner says the Japanese pilots flew so low that he actually made eye contact with one of them.

Take a look at these live pictures. Pretty remarkable. It's an outpouring of respect, thanks, and grief for police officers killed nine days ago by a career criminal. A massive ten-mile procession is going to wind through Tacoma, Washington this hour. We're going to cover it live.

Local police, fire, EMS, all leading the way from McChord Air Force Base to the officers' home base in Lakewood, and that is Lakewood Police Department there in Lakewood. But from there the Tacoma Dome will hold the memorial. Police from across the U.S. and Canada are on hand, represigning -- or representing, rather, the thin blue line.

And we want to go ahead and honor those that lost their lives just nine days ago.

We want to begin with Sergeant Mark Renninger, 39 years old, survived by his wife Kim and three children. From the get-go, he wanted to serve and protect, joining the Army out of high school. He went through airborne training, and he joined the Rangers. And then he switched to law enforcement. All business as a SWAT team trainer, by the way. Out of uniform, pretty rapid NASCAR fan.

And we also want to honor Tina Griswold, 40 years old, survived by her husband Paul and two children. Just 4'11", Officer Griswold's nickname was "Tinkerbell," but colleagues say that she was tough as nails. One of just a handful of female officers, by the way, around the state to actually finish basic SWAT training.

And we want to honor Officer Greg Richards, 42 years old, survived by his wife, Kelly, and their three kids. An Army vet. And he was also a veteran musician, drumming in a police rock band, Lock Down. Favorite family memory? When he shipped in -- shipped, actually, an In and Out burger to his brother serving overseas.

We want to honor, also, Officer Ronald Owens, 37 years old, survived by his 7-year-old daughter. Ronnie to his friends, Officer Owens was named for his dad, a sergeant in the Tacoma Police Department. He loved playing basketball and talking NASCAR with his buddy, Sergeant Renninger.

Well, if you'd like to help these families of the fallen heroes, you can logon to LPIG.us.

Meanwhile throughout the next two hours, we will cover this procession live.

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PHILLIPS: Got it.

All right, live to Capitol Hill now. The Senate Armed Services Committee is what you're looking at. Battleground, may be too tough a word, but any minute now the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and the U.S. ambassador will face some pretty tough questions about the president's war plans. We're going to monitor this hearing. As soon as it gets underway, and dip in as necessary.

When it comes to your health, what you don't know can actually hurt you a lot. David Cohen has a family history of colon cancer. When he started showing symptoms back in 2001, the Navy veteran asked the VA for a colonoscopy. The VA agreed, but 9/11 intervened, and Cohen was called to active duty.

In 2003 he got his life back, and, again, he tried to protect it. A new request for a colon test. This time, and every time for the next six years, the VA said no. Well, this past August, Cohen did get his colonoscopy. And then he got the bad news: Stage Four colorectal cancer, 26 months to live.

David Cohen joins me now live from Buffalo, New York.

And I guess just looking -- it's so hard to understand how you could actually reach this point. At the same time, we've been covering so many stories about how the VA hospitals have been letting our vets down, David. But did at any point within those six years, did you challenge the VA and say, "You've got to give me this test? You granted it to me one time, why are you not giving it to me now?".

DAVID COHEN, VETERAN DENIED COLONOSCOPY: Well, I guess what had happened was it was all basically based on just wanting peace of mind. And knowing that -- not knowing that anything was actually wrong, going to my provider -- my provider at the VA suggested and recommended that I get a colonoscopy, and just basically based on family history -- there was symptoms. Whether or not they were put down on the request occasionally, I never had access to that, so I don't know what actually was put down...

PHILLIPS: But you were bleeding, right?

COHEN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Not only did you have a family history, but you were having bleeding that you couldn't understand why it was happening.

COHEN: Right. And they basically said to me it was probably hemorrhoids, but at no point -- I do want to make clear -- at no point, even after the doctor, who at the gastroenterology unit denied that, which was within minutes on a couple of the requests -- no follow-up, no secondary precautions were ever let known to me. No one ever wanted -- no one ever called to do a blood culture test or a stool sample, or I believe there's a cancer marker test. Nothing was ever -- let it be known to me that these were available, so I had no idea to ask for them.

So, I went years without ever really knowing what to do, until about a year or so ago. The symptoms really came on, and I knew something at that point was wrong. And at that point, we demanded, and I basically -- we tracked down the chief of medicine at the VA, and I demanded -- I wasn't going to have any more of being, you know, let loose and fend for myself. I just wanted to have this done. Not knowing that this was ever the outcome.

PHILLIPS: Did you ever -- did you ever go anyplace else within those six years to get a second opinion or to see if anybody else would give you a colonoscopy?

COHEN: No, because there really wasn't any reason to at that point. I didn't know that anything like this was ever going to happen. I just wanted peace of mind.

My provider never even mentioned to me, maybe you should go somewhere else. I relied solely on the VA, and in trusting them with my life, and hoping that they were going to give me this procedure, which, you know, unfortunately back in August, my worst fears came true. And, you know, it's just been an uphill battle since then to try to get better.

PHILLIPS: And, David, the VA did give us a short statement. It says, "The VA's number one priority is the health and well-being of the nation's veterans. At VA, we are advocates for veterans, first and foremost -- it is our overarching philosophy. VA is fully committed to the safety and trust of our patients, and we are investigating the veteran's claim and working to figure out why screening was not offered."

The doc -- you had mentioned that the doctor who had denied you your colonoscopy is actually the doctor that discovered your tumor years later? Is that right?

COHEN: True. He was responsible for a number of the denials on the request.

PHILLIPS: What did he say to you when he saw the tumber? COHEN: Well, I was -- I mean, during a colonoscopy, you're put out, and so I remember vaguely, you know, coming to, that -- that he had said that there was a large mass. And then roughly thereafter, when I was more coherent, I wanted verification, and then that just...

PHILLIPS: Did he apologize? Did he say, oh, my God, I should have given you a colonoscopy? I'm sorry I denied you that?

COHEN: No. In fact, blame was basically placed on my provider, that more urgency was -- wasn't put forth. And which I -- which I disagreed, because I'd seen all the requests.

And in between the requests of my colonoscopies, there were times I went in to see my provider to say, listen, I -- I -- I think there's seriously something wrong. And this is about a year ago. And we really need to have something done.

Even with the -- the request a year ago, after things were, you know, there was bleeding, more, I mean, on a daily basis, and more and more was happening, that request in December of '08 was denied. And it wasn't until about five months later that I finally -- we finally tracked down the chief of medicine at the GI, and he agreed. He said basically...

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you something.

COHEN: Yes.

COHEN: When it was getting so bad in 2008, you knew, every single day you were having this bleeding, why not just say, "OK, forget this. I'm going to go someplace else, I'll pay $700 to get the colonoscopy. Forget the VA. I've got to do something about my health. I am going to have to suck it up and pay for it, I'm just going to have to do this?".

COHEN: Well, I know -- I guess with what's going on right now with the economy, I, for one, I couldn't afford, and from what I know from the colonoscopy tests out there, they range roughly in, you know, $1,500 -- $1,000 to $1,500.

I didn't have the money to put forth for a colonoscopy, unfortunately. And at that point, you know, the most we ever thought was happening, or at least I thought was happening, was maybe, you know, irritable bowel syndrome. Never did in my wildest dreams...

PHILLIPS: Did you think it had reached this point.

COHEN: Yes. I just never thought that.

PHILLIPS: You know, you've got two beautiful daughters...

COHEN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: ... I saw this picture of you and the cousin and the two daughters. Twenty-six months to live, I mean, I've got to ask you this question. How are you talking with them? How have you -- how are you dealing with this? I mean, you all know where this has come, and I guess how -- how are the final months going to play out? And have you discussed that with your daughters?

COHEN: Well, I don't look at the 26 months as a window. I -- I don't even look at that as a date. We don't even look at it as something that we're -- okay, we've got to hurry up, you know, and get everything in we've always wanted to do in the next 25 months.

To me, this is a point of my life where I think that maybe I was meant to do with, you know, maybe educating people and -- and never wanting anybody to have to rely on age requirements that deem a procedure necessary. I think that that is the utmost irresponsible part on any insurance -- health care when it comes down to that.

As far as -- as far as my daughters are concerned, they -- they have been phenomenal. My family, friends, people I don't even know have been absolutely wonderful. You know, I've -- I feel -- I feel good. I mean, I do have side effects, but I want to credit the way I feel to how I've always taken care of myself, and how I continue to take care of myself and don't want to look at, you know, 26 months as any type of date or a window that we have to not look forward to.

I plan on living a long life, knock on wood. And I plan on doing something greater and, you know, hopefully seeing what we can do with changing these, you know, these age requirements that apparently are -- are -- could be a death sentence for a lot of people out there, not just for colon cancer, but with everything. With all types of sickness (ph).

PHILLIPS: You have an extremely strong message. I know you are suing the VA. We'll follow that case. We'll follow, of course, as you go forward with your treatment, and we wish you a lot of strength. David Cohen, thank you very much for talking to me today.

COHEN: Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: If you are still waiting to roll up your sleeves and get the swine flu vaccination? You could get it sooner than you think. But then again, do you really want it. We're going to talk about it.

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PHILLIPS: Several billion dollars of leftover cash from the government bailout. President Obama has some definite ideas on what to do with it. He wants to use to it get Americans working again by creating new jobs on Main Street. The president is also proposing a tax cut for small businesses to spur hiring.

Polls are open in Massachusetts. Voters are narrowing down the field of candidates who want to fill the U.S. Senate seat of the late Ted Kennedy. Four Democrats and two Republicans are on the ballot for the special primary election. The winner of the general election in January will serve the last two years of Kennedys six-year term.

Winter's official arrival is more than two weeks away, but heavy snow, rain, and hurricane-force winds are spreading misery across the nation today. The West Coast getting hammered by a fierce snowstorm. Some spots are getting up to an inch an hour, we're told, and the mammoth winter punch is making its way across the country.

You're probably having an easier time finding a swine flu shot. There are now some 73 million doses of swine flu vaccine available, and another 10 million more will be on hand in the coming weeks. That means some restrictions limiting the vaccine to high-risk groups like pregnant women, kids and the elderly are likely to be lifted. Many states are re-evaluating their supplies right now and could open them up to everyone as soon as Friday.

Just because the vaccine is out there, doesn't mean you want it. More than half of Americans are saying no thanks. Check out the CNN/Opinion Research poll. Among people who don't want the shot, 28 percent say they fear possible side effects. Twenty-five percent say they aren't in the high-risk groups, and 21 percent don't like visiting the doc unless they are actually sick.

The world leaders try to hash out how to cut greenhouse gases, there are some enterprising businessmen at home want to find a cleaner way to burn coal, actually. And they want to use some federal stimulus money to pay for it, but not everybody is on board. Our Ines Ferre explains.

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INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Outside of Mattoon, Illinois, what is now a 400 acre cornfield could one day become the site of a coal burning power plant that would test the new technology designed to produce electricity with near zero emissions of greenhouse gases. Called FutureGen a consortium of energy companies that would involve $1 billion in federal stimulus money.

MICHAEL MUDO, CEO, FUTUREGEN ALLIANCE: We can demonstrate you can use coal in a way to eliminate virtually all emissions including carbon dioxide. And the purpose is not just for Illinois. It's much greater than that. It's to advance technologies so it can be replicated throughout the world especially in growing countries like India and in China which will continue to build power plants.

FERRE: Its supporters say the coal burning plant would store almost all of its carbon dioxide underground rather than spew it into the atmosphere. But a group called Environment America, which advocates clean energy, says spending money on this project would be a waste.

ANNA AURILIO, ENVIRONMENT AMERICA: This kind of technology doesn't exist right now. It's very risky, it's very speculative and dollar for dollar invested you'll get more jobs with the cleaner technologies than you are for coal.

FERRE: The Illinois Office for Coal Development estimates that at peak they would generate 1,300 construction jobs, 1,225 indirect jobs. The plant would take four years to build and create 150 permanent jobs. The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank that supports clean energy, has said FutureGen is not shovel ready.

JOSEPH ROMM, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: I just don't think they have any idea what they're going to be constructing. That's why the Bush ad administration shut this program down.

FERRE: The Illinois site near Mattoon was one of four candidates the U.S. department of energy considered as a finalist for clean coal funding starting in 2006, but it got knocked often the list in January 2008. Ines Ferre, CNN, New York.

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PHILLIPS: So, what's the deal with global warming? CNN examines whether all the dire predictions we've heard are trick or truth? Watch a special edition of the Campbell Brown show tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. She'll look at the science, skepticism and secrets.

Denver voters facing an alien concept next year. We'll tell you how E.T. made it on to the ballot.

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PHILLIPS: The voters in Denver will have to deal with alien issues next year, and not illegal aliens, though. We're actually talking extraterrestrials. An entrepreneur and UFO believer has just got enough signatures to get his plan on the ballot. He wants to form a commission to study alien visitors and to promote quote, "harmonious, peaceful, mutually respectful, and beneficial coexistence."

A little harmony among city council members here. Many say has this space case proves that it is too easy to get frivolous initiatives on the ballot.

Even E.T. could phone home, but now Britains who think they have seen him have no one to call. The government has just disconnected its UFO hotline after 50 or so years of investigations. But don't worry, they are not taking a position on the alien life forms. Let's just say it is a dollars-and-cents move. The $73,000 that this saves every year will likely go to the Brits' mission in Afghanistan.

Unemployment, jobs, T.A.R.P. the stimulus, you have questions and hopefully, they have answers. White House economic advisor Jared Bernstein is taking your "Mail to the Chief." Along for the ride is our chief business guru Ali Velshi.

Plus, already made the rounds of movie star homes in Hollywood? You can try some tougher turf on the LA Gang tour. We will talk to the guy behind that at the top of the hour.

A ten-mile procession winding through streets of Tacoma, Washington, this hour. Live pictures. It's in honor of four area police officers ambushed and killed by a lone gunman just nine days ago. Local officers are taking service from officers across the country from New York, Boston and Chicago and even Canada. The memorial starts with a three-hour procession to the Tacoma Dome, and as many as 20,000 people could pack the arena. The officers were all vets of the force with a combined 47 years' experience among them.

Self-help or self-harm? He has plenty of followers and plenty of troubles. Now we have uncovered new information and new questions about James Earl Ray -- James Arthur Ray.

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PHILLIPS: Well, he is a self-proclaimed, self-help visionary who presided over a spiritual sweat lodge ceremony that ended in tragedy with three participants dead and more than a dozen injured. His name is James Arthur Ray and we have profiled him before. A guru who claims to change lives across the world. He has followers. He also has his troubles. Today, we have new information about another deadly incident and an alleged cover-up. Gary Tuchman investigated for "360."

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-voer): July in San Diego. Scores of people looking to improve their lives paid self-help guru James Ray thousands for his three-day seminar. In part of it, they were told to pretend to be homeless. A bus dropped them downtown and they carried no Ids, no cell phone. Surviving on little would make them more self-sufficient. When it ended, one woman did not make it back to the bus, but it left anyway. And now we know that less than an hour after the even started, Collene Connorway (ph) jumped off of a balcony and killed herself.

PAUL PARKER, MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE: At the hospital, we labeled her a Jane Doe, because we didn't know who she was.

TUCHMAN: Why she committed suicide is a mystery. Her body was not identified until seven hours later. But participants in the seminar, including this man, were never told who the victim was by James Ray officials even as the seminar continued.

ANDY GRANT, SEMINAR PARTICIPANT: It was disturbing and upsetting. And you know, it smacks of cover-up.

TUCHMAN: These are Colleen's parents.

MARIAN CONAWAY, SUICIDE VICTIM'S MOTHER: Your children are supposed to outlive you. They are not supposed to die before you do, and definitely not something like this.

TUCHMAN: There are disturbing allegations about the conduct of James Ray and his company after her death which they deny, but which were also heard after the sweat lodge deaths.

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PHILLIPS: And Gary tuchman join us live from New York. Gary, tell us more about the allegations? TUCHMAN: Well, one of the things that followers of James Ray talk about whether they were followers of the sweat lodge or this people of this particular event is that he preaches accountability. And in both of to situations, there have been allegations that he is very unaccountable.

For example, in this situation, this family, the Conaway family -- five months have now gone by and they have never received one phone call from James Ray or anybody in his company expressing condolences. What they tell us is that five weeks later, they did get a little card, like one of those little cards that you get a birthday invitation for a kid's birthday. And there are, like, six lines on it. And it's signed James Ray International, so it's not even personalized. And that is all they have gotten since their loved one died.

But more importantly this woman Colleen Conaway, spent nearly $12,000 on this event and two other events, one that was held last month that she was supposed to go to, and one that's going to be held next year, and none of the money has been refunded. Now, the James Ray Company says they have not gotten a refund on the record to refund the money. That's what they tell us, but the family says it's common sense. Your loved one dies, you get a refund. But they say it is impossible to get in touch with the James Ray Company and that is some of the allegations.

PHILLIPS: Do we have any idea why she killed herself?

TUCHMAN: Well, what is really notable and sad and also interesting about the coroner's investigation is that toxicology reports show that there was no alcohol, no drugs, no prescription drugs in her system whatsoever, so that is one of the questions that we asked the family. Did she take anti-depressants? They said no, and indeed, the coroner says no indication any drugs were taken. So, we don't know why she killed herself.

The allegation is not that James Ray is responsible for her killing herself. The allegation is what happened afterwards? And it is a very disturbing pattern of lack of care. That is the allegation in both the sweat lodge event and this event that happened two-and-a- half months earlier.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, Gary, for the preview of your investigation.

You can catch Gary Tuchman's full piece tonight on CNN on "AC 360" at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Only on CNN.