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Walk in My Shoes: Teen Violence; President Urges Bankers to Lend; Tiger Woods in the Marketplace

Aired December 14, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: So, will the PGA pay for Tiger's transgressions? Pushing forward now on this hour's top stories. Untold hazards for a high-dollar sport now missing its biggest draw. We'll talk about it with Hall of Famer Amy Alcott, and you're going to join us.

Extraordinary assistance deserves an extraordinary commitment. President Obama to the nation's biggest bankers. Don't forget the bailout, don't skip on lending, and don't fight new regulations.

And it didn't pass the smell test, but how does it taste? A NEWSROOM follow-up. Meat in school lunches. If it's good enough for your kids, it's good enough for Congress.

All right. A minute ago we heard from a Chicago teenager, one of the boys involved in the brutal brawl that left honor student Derrion Albert dead.

We pick up his version now of events in part two of T.J. Holmes' special report, "Walk in My Shoes."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It shocked the nation. But for 17-year-old Vashion Bullock, this brawl was only a step removed from his everyday reality.

(on camera): What happened that day that had you end up in the middle of all that?

VASHION BULLOCK, FOUGHT IN BRAWL: One of the kids had thrown a rock at my brother's car, so I approached the boys, like, "Why are you throwing rocks and stuff at the car?"

HOLMES (voice-over): For weeks, Vashion says tension was brewing between two rival factions at Chicago's Fenger High School. Fights between the teens were nothing new, really, but on this day some kids came with makeshift weapons.

BULLOCK: They brought those weapons to the fight. They picked up some house bricks and brought them. They picked up those bottles and brought them. They ripped the railroad tracks up just to fight.

HOLMES (voice-over): The video shows a shirtless Vashion with his brother, Eugene Riley, standing next to him, both empty-handed, as another teen whacks Vashion with a wooden plank. When the brothers appear again, they're holding planks.

(on camera): So your brother comes over, and does what?

BULLOCK: He was fighting with me. He had to protect himself and me, because I am his little brother.

HOLMES: You're telling me your brother was simply defending himself and you at the time with whatever was around and whatever the other side was using.

BULLOCK: Come on. I got hit in the back of my head, he got hit in the back of his head with a stick.

HOLMES: Now, did Derrion, as far as you know, did he ever -- was he ever part of the group that was jumping you?

BULLOCK: I ain't going to say he was fighting me, because I couldn't tell.

HOLMES: So you assumed he was over there trying to swing on you and trying to fight you and your brother?

BULLOCK: No, I ain't assuming, I know for a fact.

HOLMES (voice-over): But authorities have repeatedly said Derrion was nothing more than an innocent bystander, on his way home from school, caught between two rival groups.

(on camera): So from what that -- you see in that video, what do you see your brother doing to Derrion?

BULLOCK: I see him fighting. He hit him with a stick. It was a fight.

HOLMES (voice-over): Derrion was still on the ground when Vashion's brother, Eugene, delivered a final blow.

(on camera): I know it's your brother, and I know you love him. But do you think it was necessary to take it that far?

BULLOCK: They brought those weapons to the fight. That's what people are not understanding.

HOLMES: But if Derrion was down, why do you think your brother had to go after and hit this kid who clearly wasn't a threat anymore at least.

BULLOCK: He was another body, another body with two hands that could have been swinging on anybody.

HOLMES (voice-over): After video of the brawl was released, Vashion's brother, Eugene, was taken into custody. One of four teens charged in the killing of Derrion Albert.

BULLOCK: I'm just saying like, they should let all of them go because it was just a fight. Fights happen daily. HOLMES (on camera): But, you know, for the police and for our justice system, that ain't good enough. Your brother picked up something, hit a kid, and the kid died.

BULLOCK: What about the other people that picked up the weapons and hit me? Where are they at?

HOLMES: Don't you think somebody should be held accountable for Derrion's death?

BULLOCK: No, not accountable for the whole thing, because it was a mistake. Ain't nobody mean for him to die. We just -- it was a fight. Fights took out of hand. Not intentionally, just because.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So, T.J., what's next for Vashion?

HOLMES: Well, Vashion is right now trying to get back into school. I mean, he hasn't been back to school since September 24th, when that fight took place.

For so long he had -- he got hit that day in the eye, and his eye was swollen and he had to recover from his injuries, first off. But now he's just trying to get enrolled somewhere in another school by the first of the year and possibly still graduate.

He is a senior, and he does -- Kyra, like a lot of kids, he wants to go to college, he wants to have a job in law enforcement, a career in law enforcement down the road. But all that right now in jeopardy.

PHILLIPS: So, how is his family, his mom in particular, feeling about what happened?

HOLMES: Well, his mom, Kyra, sounds, in a lot of ways, the same way he does in his answers. She doesn't think her son should be in jail either, even though both clearly admit and the video shows -- they will point it out to you -- yes, there he is. They hit him, that's my brother or my son there hitting Derrion while he's on the ground, hitting him with that 2x4 essentially.

They will admit that, but they say look at the other kids around, not all of them are under arrest. This is a fight. It happens every single day. They just say the difference here, Kyra, is that someone got killed. So, that, in his mind, his mom's mind, is why this is -- this shouldn't be treated differently, even though a kid died, just an unfortunate mistake.

We're going to be looking more into this in the next couple of days. More parts of the series. And Kyra, ,looking into the teenage mind. It's fascinating to talk to them about why they fight, and then talk to doctors who can really break down the brain, explain why kids are essentially gas pedal and no brake and that's why they act out like this at this age.

PHILLIPS: Great reporting. Appreciate it, T.J. Thanks. HOLMES: All right.

PHILLIPS: President Obama telling the big bankers that we bailed you out, now it's your turn. He urged them to take a third or fourth look at their lending practices and to get busy helping out small business. The president said that he's still getting letters from business owners who run into a brick wall when they try to borrow money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My main message in today's meeting was very simple: that America's banks received extraordinary assistance from American taxpayers to rebuild their industry. And now that they are back on their feet, we expect an extraordinary commitment from them to help rebuild our economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, the president also urged bankers to support consumer protections and to make sure that their lobbyists on the Hill are on the same page.

Let's talk with Christine Romans about the big meeting.

Christine, the president kind of dissed bankers on "60 Minutes" last night. I mean, he really laid it out.

Has he reached a boiling point with them, do you think?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Look, this is a president who understands that the American public is seriously ticked off that they are still suffering and watching the stocks of these banks and the profits of these banks soar so quickly after it was the banking sector that took us to the brink. That's what the president said here today.

Now, you're right. On "60 Minutes" he called them "fat cat" bankers who just don't get it. He didn't seem to repeat that language. At least the bankers afterwards said that he was -- you know, that they talked about a lot of issues, that it was serious and productive, but that he wasn't hurling insults necessarily in that room. We'll never know because it was just closed to the press, just the 12 of them and the president.

But he is clearly angry about this, and he clearly wants these banks -- and he said it. He wants these banks who had extraordinary assistance from the taxpayer to now turn around -- things are turning around for them. He wants them to turn around and give extraordinary assistance to the American economy.

PHILLIPS: Does he have leverage over them really, Christine? And what can he actually make them do?

ROMANS: Ironically, the White House had more leverage months ago when all these banks still had billions of dollars of our money on their books. Two hundred and forty-seven billion dollars of taxpayer money went to these very banks through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Well, they have repaid $116 billion. Just Citigroup, just this morning, announced it would repay $20 billion. So, when that check comes through it will be $136 billion of taxpayer money, more than half, that has been returned.

The more that these banks try to get out from under those TARP obligations and out from under the government's thumb, the less influence, really, and leverage that the White House has. So, there are, ironically, some people who are saying these banks shouldn't have been allowed to return this money. They should have to keep the money, keep it as a cushion for their higher, harder capital requirements, and that that might have made them lend more.

PHILLIPS: All right. So we all want to know, is this a real opportunity or political theater? I mean, what can he deliver for the American people in an hour?

ROMANS: That's right, because earlier this year, remember, in March, he talked to these same CEOs, and he basically, we're told, told them, "The only the thing standing between you and the pitchforks from the public is me." Well, now here he is sitting with them again saying, you need to lend to small business, you need to lend to consumers, you need to get on board with financial regulatory reform. I don't want to hear you sit in this room and tell me that, "We understand, President," and hear your lobbyists working against what we're trying to do to fix this from ever happening again.

Can the president in one hour do what we haven't been able to do for a year? It remains to be seen if these CEOs really get it, that they have to be part of a solution and come up with something creative quickly.

PHILLIPS: Christine Romans, thanks.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: Tiger Woods, the new poster boy for falling from grace. We're going to take a look at the costs, personal and professional. Plus, we're going to talk with one pro golfer about life on and off the fairway and in the rough.

Everyone knows who Betsy Ross was, but today we want you to remember the name Robert Heft. When Ike welcomed Alaska and Hawaii, number 49 and 50, into the union, the flag had a change. Well, it was Robert Heft is the one who designed Old Glory, as we now know it, with 50 stars.

Heft passed away recently. He was 67. But his stamp on history might be flying from a flagpole near you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The Tiger Woods scandal may eventually cost him his marriage, but the world's greatest golfer is definitely paying a steep price already -- ducking the PGA Tour for an indefinite period, losing a couple of big-dollar sponsors, not to mention a public relations earthquake that's shaken a once squeaky clean image.

Here's CNN's Patrick Snell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID LETTERMAN, "THE DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW": Boy, it looks like that Tiger Woods is having some trouble, huh?

(LAUGHTER)

LETTERMAN: They say he may no longer be on the box of Wheaties, and I was thinking, well, my God, if he's actually this active...

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So this is what it's come to for Tiger Woods, from global icon revered for his dominance on the golf course, to the butt of jokes on late-night television for his alleged affairs off it. With his image suffering, many wonder if he still has the ability to be an effective corporate pitchman.

GRAHAM HALES, MARKETING DIRECTOR: What you're looking for with these endorsements, a degree of predictability; i.e., we understand the person and we can see how it's all going to work out. But they also need to be interesting.

We have now gone past the point where Tiger Woods is interesting. And a lot of his role model persona and the way that people held themselves up to sort of -- see Tiger Woods as being a great sports person is eroding fast.

SNELL: And the dominoes are starting to fall. Gillette announced they won't air commercials with Woods or use him for personal appearances for now, and Accenture, the global consulting firm, announced they are severing ties.

RICK HORROW, CEO, HORROW SPORTS VENTURES: I'm not surprised with the decision relative to Accenture, but I'm surprised with the language. If you look at his statement, their statement, they say that he is no longer the right representative for the advertising. The first corporation that really came out and basically hit him right between the eyes.

SNELL: Meanwhile, EA Sports and Nike are two companies that continue to stand by Woods.

HORROW: What's in it for Nike is the perpetuation of somewhere near the $800 million of annual sales. Now, Tiger is the reason Nike Golf is as prolific. If you substitute other endorsers, it's not the same. This is unprecedented. This will make every marketing textbook in every case study all across the world.

SNELL: Woods has decided to take an indefinite leave of absence from golf. But when he does return, the PGA Tour and television networks will also need to decide if he'll still be the cover boy for the tournaments he plays in.

DAVID DUSEK, DUTY EDITOR, GOLF.COM: When Tiger Woods initially makes his return to the PGA tour, it will be very difficult for the folks who run the tour to put him in PSAs, to really have be the face of the PGA Tour. If he starts winning, if he starts winning major championships again in 2010, then certainly that will change. But right off the bat, I think it will be a little bit of a stretch for Tiger Woods to really be sort of the flagship person or the brand, if you will, for any major organization. I think that right now he's just simply too hot a commodity values. for somebody to put out in front and say this is the person who represents us and all of our

SNELL: "Forbes" magazine touted Woods as the first athlete to surpass the billion-dollar mark in career earnings, with nearly 80 percent of it reportedly coming from his role as a pitchman. Only time will tell if he'll make another billion as fast as he made the first.

Patrick Snell, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, I know it's hard for many of us to relate to the life and money of Tiger Woods. And that's why I so much wanted to include a personal friend of mine for a larger discussion on this.

Many of us remember her for this watershed moment, jumping into the pond at the 18th green after winning the 1988 Nabisco Dinah Shore Classic. And by the way, she also won 28 other tournaments, including five majors. She's also, did I mention, LPGA World Golf Hall of Famer.

The "Lady of the Lake," Amy Alcott, joins us live from Los Angeles today.

And Amy, I know this is such a controversial subject, and it's hard for a lot of golfers to talk about, because I think it, no doubt, shocked everybody. So let's look at just the game of golf, the business of golf.

AMY ALCOTT, FMR. PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Right.

PHILLIPS: And, you know, you were telling me that this scandal is going to impact the game on so many levels.

Where do you think it's going to take the biggest hit?

ALCOTT: Well, Kyra, great to be with you, by the way. Lovely to see you.

I think that golf is bigger than this. I mean, golf will go on. Golf will survive. It's the most amazing sport that there is, most challenging sport, but this certainly makes everyone take a step back. You know, there is the amazing Tiger Woods, the incomparable Tiger Woods, and then there is the personal scandal involved which is really -- will kind of, you know, stop golf in it tracks, so to speak, right now and make it a very controversial, you know, subject to talk about.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about where though that it is. I mean, yes, we know golf is going to survive, and every dedicated golfer is still going to love the game. But let's lay it out there. I mean, it's going to lose ratings, it's going to lose the crowd.

ALCOTT: Yes.

PHILLIPS: I mean, put into perspective what he did for this game and how this scandal is going to affect the business of this game.

ALCOTT: Well, you know, it's obvious. Tiger Woods has been golf.

I mean, when he doesn't show up, tournaments, they lose 50 percent of their following. He's gate. He's ticket. He is golf. And pro golfers will tell you he's the man.

And this is really, you know, something that's taking golf back off the radar and putting it -- the radar is all about, you know, what he's -- all his personal transgressions and everything like that. And it's -- beyond saying it's sad and it's hard to watch, you can always say, OK, well, it's like Mae West -- "I don't care what they say about me as long as they talk about me."

But in many ways, this is hurting the game and people don't want to talk about it because it's bringing it over into the -- you know, the news sessions. And everybody's talking about it. So, you know, it's...

PHILLIPS: Well, and let me ask you this, too. I mean, we talk about his sponsorship, how much money he is worth, everybody that wanted a piece of him in the advertising world, but he also upped the ante for other golfers, didn't he? Didn't other guys get better deals and get...

ALCOTT: Oh, yes. No question.

PHILLIPS: Explain that.

ALCOTT: The money -- anybody will tell you, he has created -- opened the floodgates for other professional golfers to make money. Many of the top golfers will tell you he has, you know, padded their pocketbooks in a big way because he's been the guy who's really changed the face of golf.

In many ways, Tiger Woods -- I tell people -- I mean, it's been a privilege to live during a time to watch this man compete and do what he does. Nobody has played golf the way this man has.

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you something. Let me follow up on that, because you brought up an interesting point. No one has played golf the way this man has.

And I have watched you play. We have talked about the game of golf for more than a decade, and the mental aspect is so key to this game.

Looking at what he's going through, OK, which is huge, do you think he will ever be able to come back to this game with the mental strength that he had to be the greatest golfer in the world, or is this...

ALCOTT: Well, you know, Kyra, golf is an amazing game of resurrecting yourself. If you have the courage, the desire, the fight, the will to bring something back, I mean, golf loves these kind of stories. Golf loves people making comebacks.

This has been documented throughout the history of the game, where you had it and then you kind of lose your desire or fall off the radar and you make a comeback. I mean, I think golf will be waiting for him to see what Tiger will do when he does decide to come back, because I think, you know, if he has the fight, if he has the want, if he has the courage, it's got to come from deep inside of him to say, I want to play this game and I want to be better than I was, then he can do that. But he's got to have that within him. Golf love this is kind of stuff.

PHILLIPS: Wow. Well, it's going to be interesting to watch.

Amy, always good to see you and to talk to you about things. Appreciate your insight.

ALCOTT: Thanks, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

So what do you guys think about the business of pro golf surviving this scandal? Here are some of your tweets.

Dan says, "Golf was thriving before Woods and will most definitely survive without the dimwit."

Michael J.W. Jr. says, "No, Kyra. Every tournament will now have an asterisk noting Tiger's absence from it. Golf needs someone to fill in the huge void left now."

SpiderBite says, "If the music business never seems to be in short of scandal, well, I doubt one man's indiscretions will affect the entire golf industry."

And From LouisRD3, "I give Tiger until the first major of the year. He will then return and work out his family issues. Both need each other."

Thanks for all the tweets. We love hearing from you at KyraCNN.

After tragedy on Mt. Hood, the threat of avalanches is hampering efforts to find two missing hikers. The body of a third hiker was found Saturday about 9,000 feet up a notoriously treacherous trail on the mountain. Crews are hoping for a break in the weather this afternoon to airlift a rescuer into the search area. Italy's prime minister on the mend and could be leaving the hospital late tomorrow. Silvio Berlusconis' nose was fractured and two teeth were broken in yesterday's attack. Police say the man who hurled a statuette at Berlusconi's face has a history of mental illness.

A Georgia man convicted of supporting terrorism has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison. Ehsanul Sadequee, on the right in the glasses, actually e-mailed the Taliban requesting to sign up and fight against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. His friend and coconspirator on the left, Saed Ahmed (ph), is expected to be sentenced this hour.

The lines are long and the people in them are carrying plenty of stuff. If you've got to go to the post office today, you might want to make a pit stop first and make sure you're wearing comfy shoes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you're heading out to the post office today, you're not alone. Your friends and neighbors will be joining you with some 830 million letters, cards and packages. And that's 40 percent above the daily average.

Today is the busiest mailing day of the year. Most of the mail will actually be delivered on Wednesday, which makes the 16th the busiest delivery day of the season. That's also the deadline to send gifts by regular parcel post after you have to ante up big bucks to get it there before Christmas.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: What did your child have for lunch today? Well, if he ate in the school cafeteria, he may have fared much better than Jack in the Box.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: You might be upset if your kids' school served fast food burgers for lunch but some of the biggest chains have much higher standards for meet quality than the U.S. government does. It's hard to believe but it's true. The U.S. Department of Agriculture buys meat for school lunches on the open market, often taking beef or chicken that restaurants and retailers won't. We brought you this news last week, the eye-opening findings of a "USA Today" investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER EISLER, USA TODAY: The government has a set of standards that they have put in place. And the problem is that the standards that they put in place are about 10 years old now. With all the attention that's been paid to food-borne illness and all the technological advances that have come along in the industry, that the fast food industry really has adopted a lot more of this stuff and put all lot tougher programs in place for how often they sample the meat, how carefully they check for pathogens, for bacteria and that sort of thing. At this point, the government has fallen behind.

BLAKE MORRISON, USA TODAY: With children it's hard to know sometimes why they are getting sick. Sometimes you just want to dismiss and say, oh, it's a kid. He got sick on something, we don't really know. But that's part of the reason we wanted to look at this. Parents have all these choices when they go to a grocery store, but when they send their children to school, it's the government who's making the choices. They are the ones who are vetting these providers. They're the ones who are making decisions about what the kids eat and the parents really don't know. They have no idea what's on the menu or where it is coming from and whether the companies are providing it have really poor track records.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Shortly after that interview aired we learned that the Feds actually planned to take a sampling of school lunch fare to Capitol Hill. Chicken fajita strips, sliced ham and green beans. We trust it won't be the quote spent hen (ph) that KFC and Campbell's soup won't touch with a 10-foot pole. Tony Geraci won't touch them either. He is director of food and nutrition for public schools in Baltimore and described by some as a pioneer for healthy eating in schools. I'm curious, Tony, in light of this investigation, in light of this information that we learned that's pretty heart-wrenching, especially if you're a parent, what did you do differently and how did you do it because you were able to get good, healthy food in your schools.

TONY GERACI, DIR. OF FOOD & NUTRITION, BALTIMORE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Well, thanks, by the way, for having me on Kyra. I'm a big fan of yours. What we did here in Baltimore was we went back to basics. We started sourcing locally. I can buy local, you know, peaches for less money than I can buy canned commodity peaches. It makes more sense to buy local products to keep the tax dollars circulating in your community. We did some innovative things like meatless Mondays where we wanted to spark some conversations around real food and the origins of real food. We serve a pretty diverse menu mix. We serve, you know, plant-based meals and chicken and beef and pork and fish. But we are focusing in on local products.

PHILLIPS: So it was local products. How did you avoid though -- I mean, we reported about these kids eating old hen meat and getting chicken that would normally go to pet food and compost. I mean, how did you avoid getting such low grade meat and chicken?

GERACI: Due diligence. Look, I'm a chef. So every product that we serve in our lunch program we cut, we test. Not only do we test it in our kitchens with our chef dietitians, but we do it with the kids. We sat down and we made sure that the kids try the food before we put it on the menu mix. And if it doesn't pass their quality standards, we don't serve it.

PHILLIPS: I was reading your quote that a reporter that had interviewed you was talking about what's happening on Capitol Hill and they asked, OK, so what do you think? Is it all going to be fixed and you said, hell, no. Why such strong words? GERACI: Look, the system is clearly broken. But in the defense of the USDA and certainly in the defense of this administration, they have come light years in the last five months in having conversations with food service directors around the country and really, they are solution-focused as opposed to just dwelling on the problems. I had a great meeting with USDA about a week ago with other food service directors here in Maryland and we started talking about local poultry. Look, there are more chickens than people in the state of Maryland. Why am I buying pre-cooked chicken parts from Arkansas? It doesn't make any sense.

PHILLIPS: And that's a good point, so I'm curious. You have been so successful at doing this. Why can't every other public school system do this? What needs to be done to set a standard because honestly, you make it look pretty darn easy.

GERACI: Well, I think that it's a great deal of work and there is a great deal of collaboration that happens to make this successful. Look, I'm not the Lone Ranger out there doing this. The work that I do happens because I have an amazing staff. I have an amazing school board that's supportive. I have an amazing boss. Dr. Alonzo (ph). He's assembled sort of a dream team of transformation in the city of Baltimore and he's looking at all aspects of education and he recognizes that it's unrealistic to have an expectation that teachers are going to be able to deliver a lesson plan to kids that are jacked up on sugar or hungry.

PHILLIPS: You bring up a great point, we should (INAUDIBLE) it there. For so many of these kids, thousands and thousands of these kids, it's their only meal of the day. For God's sakes, we should be able to give them a decent meal at school. Tony Geraci, appreciate your input, also your efforts. We'll be following your work. Thanks so much. Hopefully you'll be able to influence some of these other school systems with what you do.

GERACI: We're working on it right now and part of a group of the 20 largest urban school districts in America and we're doing exactly that.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Tony.

GERACI: You bet.

PHILLIPS: And we did receive a statement from the Department of Agriculture when our school lunch stories first aired and here's the quote. Food safety is a high priority for the Obama administration. Starting with the launch of the president's food safety working group within a few months of taking office, the working group is charged with strengthening our food safety system, improving collaboration among Federal agencies and focusing efforts on preventing food-borne illness. Secretary Vilsack has also ordered independent review of the testing procedures and requirements of the national school lunch program and charged the department with ensuring that all products supplied to America's school children are safe and healthy and that our purchasing processes remain equivalent with best industry practices. I can tell you we'll follow up and stay on top of this story.

Iran probably the last place an American would want to face the legal system, but three of them are about to. Are they truly defendants or just bargaining chips?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Top stories, defendants or political pawns? Iran say it'll put three American hikers on trial, saying they had suspicious aims when they crossed the border rather from Iraq in July. There are fears that Iran is simply using the hikers as bargaining chips in talks over its nuclear program.

Five young Americans busted last week in Pakistan won't be headed home soon. The group disappeared from their homes and families in Virginia, supposedly bent on waging jihad. The Pakistani police say that two well-known militant groups turned the Americans away. The U.S. had pushed for speedy extradition but a court order blocks it at least until a hearing on Thursday.

A boycott that threatened to disrupt the climate summit in Copenhagen is over. Leaders of the developing nations walked out earlier today after demanding that rich nations make deeper cuts in greenhouse gases. President Obama heads to Copenhagen later this week.

You don't get something for nothing. That's President Obama's message to some of the biggest banks in the nation. He said that they accepted a government bailout. Now it's time to open spigots on lending to small business. CNN money.com's Poppy Harlow in New York. So Poppy, these banks are getting a lot of criticism. Is it justified?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Some is Kyra and some isn't as things go in Washington. When you look at the numbers, the evidence is there. You look at the 22 U.S. banks that got the most TARP money. Their small business lending fell by $10.5 billion from April through September. Now they are also making billions of other loans, but let's look at three of these banks whose CEOs just met with the president a few hours ago. First of all, let's take Bank of America. That bank got $45 billion in government aid through TARP, but actually paid it back last week. But their small business lending fell 5 percent from April to September.

Similar story at JPMorgan Chase. They paid back $25 billion in TARP money, but their small business lending fell 2.5 percent in that same six month period. And then Wells Fargo, this is a very important one because not only have they not paid back their TARP money, but they're also the country's biggest small business lender. Their small business lending Kyra, similar story, down about 4 percent over that six-month period. They haven't paid back that TARP so the president could have a little bit more sway when it comes to dealing with Wells Fargo. But again Krya, we have to remember no matter what he said in that meeting today, he can't make these banks do anything because they have paid back their TARP money. He did however say it's time to step up and help the American people that helped the banks. Take a listen to the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, no one wants banks making the kinds of risky loans that got us into this situation in the first place. It's true that regulators are requiring them to hold more of their capital as a hedge against the kind of problems that we saw last year. But given the difficulty business people are having as lending has declined and given the exceptional assistance banks received to get them through a difficult time, we expect them to explore every responsible way to help get our economy moving again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Some pretty strong words there from the president Kyra, really talking, when we focus on small business, it's because it employs more than half the workers in this country and as you know, it's really sort of the lifeblood of our economy. You've got to get those small businesses up and running again Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So how are the heads of major banks reacting following today's meeting with the president?

HARLOW: That's a great question. I wish we had cameras in there so we could know exactly, hard to gauge, but some of them did come out and speak publicly in Washington after the meeting. One of those CEOs was the head of U.S. Bancorps, Richard Davis. I want to play you here his response to that meeting with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD DAVIS, CEO, U.S. BANCORP: You know, there wasn't a lot of disagreement. There was simply an opportunity for the president to make clear how important some of these issues are. And while we have done a good job individually talking about how we are aligned with some of the very principles of the administration, as a group we haven't done as good a job as we can in the future to align the interests of our constituents and of the American public. And I think we agree that there are better ways to do that and he gave us some very good ideas on how to be better at communicating that and describing that in the real streets of America and not just in the press conferences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So that was one of the CEOs Kyra. We'll keep an eye out, see if we can get any of the other ones to talk to us about that meeting. We're updating the story, one of our top stories today of course on CNN money. See what happens, Kyra, lot of talk. We'll see what action follows.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Poppy. Between Tiger "Transgression" Woods and Governor "I left my heart in Argentina" Sanford, it's easy to forget about this guy, Eliot "client nine" Spitzer. His scandal is not through giving just yet. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So you put some reading glasses on the most notorious call girl of 2008, give her a computer, make sure she's fully clothed and what do you get? Ask Ashley. Go ahead, ask anything you'd like. Yep, Ashley Dupre, the working girl who helped end the governorship of Eliot Spitzer has gotten 15 more minutes of fame. She's now writing a weekly advice column for the "New York Post," relationship advice and such, you know, the kind of relationships you don't pay for up front.

As much as that commercial brings back fond memories, this story was a bit much. In Australia, a university actually paid for research to see the least painful way to rip off a band-aid. This just in -- they found it hurts more to pull it off slowly rather than just rip it off. This also just in -- what?

From things you got to rip off to stuff you really hope stays in place. Today's what the -- finale, hundreds of Speedos speeding through the chilly streets of Boston this weekend. Lots of red cheeks at the tenth annual Santa Speedo run. I'm talking faces, people. Get your minds out of the gutter. Besides spreading holiday cheer -- and maybe a little fear -- the race raised tons of money for two charities that help disadvantaged kids. Rick Sanchez, do you wear a Speedo?

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you just ask me that?

PHILLIPS: Exactly. Exactly the reaction I thought I was going to get. Come on.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

PHILLIPS: Admit it. Come on. The Latin lover, he wears a Speedo on the beaches of Miami.

SANCHEZ: No, no. I'm a boring long boxers down to my knees kind of guy.

PHILLIPS: We digress. Tell us what's coming up?

SANCHEZ: I'll tell you what I'm into. We were into this on Friday. I don't think Americans can pay enough attention to this. These bankers who went up to Washington today, three of which we will name who didn't even show up for the meeting. I guarantee you they would have shown up if it was time to collect their TARP money back when. Regardless, now I digress. The point is this. How much are they getting that the rest of us aren't? Has this president really been judicious in making sure that these fat cats on Wall Street are not giving it to the rest of us in the end. Have we been too fruitful in Washington?

This is what Matt Tiabe (ph) writes about in the "Rolling Stone" and Tiabe now is getting a lot of heat for what he's written, essentially all but saying the president is a sell-out to Wall Street. I've asked Matt to come and be on our show. He's going to join me. He's going to answer the questions about his critics and obviously because he's as big a critic as there is right now of this president, we're going to talk about that as well. We're going to get into the nitty-gritty of this from the very beginning of the show to the end. So I think it's one of the most important things going on in this country right now, especially if you look at the deficit. There you go. That's what I'm going to do.

PHILLIPS: Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: When a 100-year-old dies at a nursing home, it's sad but not unexpected. When a 100-year-old is murdered at a nursing home, too tragic for words, especially when you find out who the suspect is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You know, we started this hour looking at shocking teen violence and we end it somewhere totally different and just as disturbing. A murder case that just boggles the mind, the victim, 100 years old, the suspect, 98. More now from Mary Saladna of our Boston affiliate WCVB.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT BARROW, VICTIM'S SON: My mother was well-loved. She loved everyone at the nursing home.

MARY SALADNA, WCVB CORRESPONDENT: That was Scott Barrow on the day prosecutors announced his mother had indeed been murdered in her nursing home bed. One hundred-year-old Elizabeth Barrow was found strangled, a Wal-Mart plastic bag over her head. Two months later, Barrow's 98-year old roommate, Laura Lundquist, is charged with second degree murder, but it is the details of what allegedly went on before Barrow's death that her family finds appalling.

SAMUEL SUTTER, BRISTOL COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The investigation revealed that the defendant harbored hostility toward the victim because she believed the victim, Ms. Barrow, was taking over the room they shared at the nursing home. In the weeks prior to her death, the victim had complained that the defendant was making her life, quote, a living hell.

SALADNA: Prosecutors say Lundquist became increasingly agitated.

SUTTER: On the evening before her death, the victim, Ms. Barrow, had complained to a nurse's aide that the defendant had placed a table at the foot of her bed which impeded her path to the bathroom. When the nurse's aide removed the table from the location, Ms. Lundquist, the defendant, assaulted her by punching her.

SALADNA: Scott Barrow tells news center 5 the nursing home should have separated the two then and there. Instead his mother would be found dead. Ms. Lundquist would be moved in with another roommate. SUTTER: In that new room, Ms. Lundquist observed a white plastic bag similar to the one found covering Ms. Barrow's head and stated, quote, she had a bag like Betty and I hope I don't have to use it.

SALADNA: A judge has now ordered that 98-year-old Laura Lundquist undergo a 20-day psychiatric evaluation before she's formally charged in court. In Dartmouth, I'm Mary Saladna, news center 5.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Brandon Woods of Dartmouth says that the state ruled a complaint against the home was not valid. More detail in this statement. Mrs. Barrow was offered a room change in July and again in August of 2009 due to her expressed desire to have more space. However Mrs. Barrow declined the opportunity to change rooms and subsequently her roommate on both occasions.

Thanks for joining us on this Monday. I'll see you back here tomorrow. Rick Sanchez picks it up from here.