Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Federal Agents Looking for Teen; Cleanup Begins in Hollister, Missouri; Facebook Murder; Heroin Use Skyrockets in U.S.; Usher Keeps the Kids; The Science Behind Saving the Shark; Oprah Returns to Silver Screen; Tiger Woofs Struggles in Round Three of PGA

Aired August 10, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A look at our top stories we're following in the NEWSROOM.

Searchers are combing trails and hiking paths in Cascade, Idaho, looking for a missing California teen. Hannah Anderson was last seen with alleged kidnapper James DiMaggio.

Also, heavy rain is causing deadly flash floods in parts of the U.S. Cars and homes are being washed away by the rapid waters.

And Oprah Winfrey says a shop at (INAUDIBLE) in Switzerland refused to show her a handbag that she wanted to buy. She said she was a victim of racism.

We begin in Idaho where the search for teen Hannah Anderson and her alleged kidnapper is intensifying. Last hour, officials in Cascade, Idaho, said dozens of federal agents were scouring through a remote area, but the wilderness is making the search very difficult there.

Paul Vercammen is live for us now in San Diego where the suspect is believed to have kidnapped the teenager after allegedly killing her mother and brother.

So, Paul, officials are also saying that they're going to descend upon that vehicle that was abandoned there in Idaho to look through it and see if any more information can be found. Like what?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, Fredricka, first, let me tell you this, that the suspect apparently tried to hide that vehicle. It was covered in brush. He had pulled off a license plate somehow, but they found it and the big concern was that perhaps it was booby trapped, rigged with homemade bombs. This DiMaggio does have military experience. He was a Navy corpsman.

What happened was Boise officials went through -- Idaho officials went through the car and so far they have not found any bomb making material -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, now, talk to me about the body that was located in that burned out house. They are saying that there's a positive I.D. of little boy who happens to be Hannah's brother?

VERCAMMEN: Yes, unfortunately, the worst fears were realized that body was badly charged, the DNA sample was difficult, but last night, authorities here in San Diego saying that the victim -- the second victim inside the property is indeed 8-year-old Ethan and that is Hannah's little brother, and of course the son of the woman who was killed there in that Boulevard -- California, that town on the Mexican border.

So we now have at least one murder charge and later on you can imagine, Fredricka, when prosecutors get together with detectives, the host of charges is going to grow this long. It's going to be at least two homicides with special circumstances which would make this a death penalty case.

You likely have arson. You likely also have cruelty to animals because a dog was killed in that fire and no doubt there could be kidnapping and possible ancillary charges related to that -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Gosh, horrible situation. And of course, that search in Idaho is intensifying by air, on foot and even on horseback, as they continue to search for the 16-year-old and the alleged kidnapper.

Thank you so much, Paul Vercammen. Keep us posted.

All right, meantime, storms are hammering about a dozen states across the U.S., triggering serious flooding. This riveting video captures the crisis. Cars flowing downstream in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Flood waters swept two people to their death in Colorado and Oklahoma.

The National Weather Service is concerned about more severe flooding in southern Missouri today. Rescuers are still pulling people from their homes,

And that's where we find Zain Asher in Hollister.

So you've had a chance to talk to a number of the flood victims there. What are they telling you about their experiences?

ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred, yes, well, the clean-up process is well underway. That's what they're telling me, it's really all about rebuilding now.

Right now you're actually seeing entire families come here, even with small children to help get rid of some of the debris.

Now let me just show you some of the damage residents here are actually having to contend with. Take a look at this mobile home right here. This home actually used to sit all the way over here. Basically, pretty much a football field away. The force of the flooding, the force of the waters pretty much moving at around 85 miles an hour was so strong that it picked up the mobile home off of the ground and sent it flying, landing in this spot right here.

And by the way, this house actually used to be the other way around, so the force actually sent the house spinning 180 degrees. That's actually the back of the house. I actually asked the property manager here, you know, what was it like here on Thursday when everything you see here was pretty much under water and she told me that you saw residents sitting on their roofs, waiting to be rescued.

Take a look over there. You actually see a basketball hoop in the distance. If you could just zoom in. One woman was hanging off that basketball hoop for pretty much two and a half hours waiting to be rescued.

And you know, despite that all of that, people here have still found reasons to be grateful. Take a listen to what one woman had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very thankful nobody was hurt, nobody was killed. We're very thankful that we had units to put our families in so they have a home to go to.

ASHER: You had (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I had five empty units. I did transfer everybody that lost everything into another unit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: And it's not just in Hollister. We are seeing unprecedented rainfall all over the Midwest. For Colorado Spring, for example, just outside of there, one person was found dead. Also, by the way, here in Missouri, two people found dead and also Oklahoma City, one person found dead as well. So people here right now are really just trying rebuild their lives -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Very dangerous. All right, thank you so much for bringing that to us. Zain Asher, appreciate that.

California, it, too, was having a difficult time. It can't seem to catch a break. Look at this massive wildfire burning across the mountains east of Los Angeles. It has scorched more than 28 square miles already with hot, dry winds driving it.

And this is a view from Banning, California. The so-called River Fire under way there. The two have actually merged into one big blaze. It has forced evacuations, injured five firefighters and one homeowner was also severely burned.

Unfortunately, the weather pattern calls for much of the same. More flooding in about a dozen states. More hot, dry weather in California which needs the rain badly.

Meteorologist Jennifer Delgado joining us now in the CNN Weather Center, and this is a very serious, very dangerous and deadly situation.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. And you know what, Fredricka, we're not done with it yet. You know, we talk about the video that we had earlier coming out of Manitou, and hopefully we can pull it up for you.

You saw the video of the cars rushing away. And that is in the area that is in the valley, parts of Manitou. Well, what happened there is all that rain and we're talking just an inch and a half came down in a very short period of time.

Quickly over to our graphics. What happened is with all the rain coming down, it came down the mountains and we had mudslides as well as the water basically just pounding down there, channeling and it washed all those cars away, so this is actually result of fires that happened last year.

That is the Waldo Canyon Fire and that left behind an area with virtually no vegetation to soak up all that rainfall that came down.

What you're seeing in red, that is the actual vegetation. So this is the burn scar area and it made the flooding situation even worse.

Now we continue to follow storms moving through parts of the Midwest. You can see even in areas including northwestern parts of Tennessee, the rain has been coming down. In fact, we do have flash flood warnings that have been issued across some area. Some of those have since expired through parts in Missouri as well as into Arkansas, but the rain is not done yet and we're still talking more flash flooding because 15 inches of rainfall has come down in the last five days, Fredricka, across parts of Missouri, Arkansas.

We've seen the video there and with more of it on the way over the next 48 hours, we're still just not out of danger yet.

And I just want to quickly update you with the Silver Fire that they're dealing with out in Banning, we are looking at wind gusts today up to about 25 for today as well as tomorrow with no rain.

WHITFIELD: Oh boy.

DELGADO: Temperatures in the lower 90s.

WHITFIELD: That does not help the situation at all. All right, Jennifer, keep up posted.

Thanks so much.

DELGADO: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: Oprah Winfrey heading back to Hollywood. Her new film "The Butler" opening next week. Ahead, she sits down with CNN to talk movies, racism and success at her television network.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, ACTRESS, "THE BUTLER": You had many, many, many nights.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Come to Jesus.

(LAUGHTER)

WINFREY: And honey, Jesus was at the table. Jesus was at that table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: One on one with Oprah later this hour.

And a man says he killed his wife and then posted a picture of the body on Facebook. We'll have this shocking story and how it may affect your Facebook page.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It was a grim Facebook first. A man posted a picture of his dead wife on his page. But it gets even more strange. He wrote, quote, "I'm going to prison or getting the death sentence for killing my wife," end quote.

Sure enough, police found Derek Medina's wife shot to death in their Miami home. He is now under arrest. In court Friday, he was charged with murder. Medina told his father he and his wife fought and he admitted to shooting her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEREK MEDINA SR., FATHER OF MURDER SUSPECT: He just said that his wife picked up a knife on him, they had a big fight and he shot her.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Your son came to your house --

(CROSSTALK)

MEDINA: All he said is I need to go to the police. I need to turn myself in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Medina's post stayed online for five hours before Facebook took it down.

This case is gaining national attention. The post went viral and our Laurie Segall has been following the story for us.

So Laurie, this is a rather unique case. Thank goodness it is a first and maybe the last. What is Facebook's legal obligation if any?

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT: I mean, first of all, Fredricka, completely unbelievable when you think about this. I mean, this photo of this dead woman was up and it was shared over 100 times before it was actually taken flying.

And Facebook's terms of service, the reserved the ability to take this kind of activity offline. But I think you're going to be surprised to hear about their legal obligation. We actually spoke to our legal analysts. Listen to what he had to say about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, as offensive as it was to post the photograph of someone who had been murdered, there's nothing illegal about it from the standpoint of Facebook. Facebook took it down in five or six hours. In fact, Facebook was under no legal obligation to take the picture down at all nor is BuzzFeed or anything -- any other entity that runs it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEGALL: Pretty interesting when you think about the horrific nature of this picture now. That being said, we think -- we think four to five hours is a long time, well, Facebook has a billion users and that user base is just growing. They have people reporting information all the time, so a source close to the company said that this is probably pushed forward because of the sensitivity.

WHITFIELD: And so, Facebook, their official response is what?

SEGALL: I reached out to them, their official response, let me read it to you. They gave us a statement. They said that the content was reported to us and we took action on the profile, removing the content and disabling the profile. They said they also reached out to law enforcement and they went on to say we take action on all our contents that violate out terms which are clearly laid out on our site.

You know, obviously, Fredricka, with a billion users now, Facebook and other social media, Twitter, these are becoming a place where there's a lot of digital evidence when there's a crime.

WHITFIELD: Laurie Segall, thanks so much for bringing that to us.

SEGALL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Next in the CNN NEWSROOM, a heroin explosion in the United States. The drug is hot with teens and it doesn't have a happy ending.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just broke down. Like I didn't feel like it was real. Like, I can't believe like something like that could just happen to like one of my best friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: You'll hear one family's story and why the drug has made a huge comeback.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BO JACKSON, FORMER ATHLETE: I'm Bo Jackson and we can make an impact after the storm.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: This is what one deadly twister left behind in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. JACKSON: I got phone calls from relatives and friends saying there was a bad storm, a big tornado that came through. I said I haven't thought about what can I do to give back to my community, and I came up with this harebrain idea to ride a bicycle across the state.

I decided to make it an annual event to raise money for the tornado victims. I want to make the rest of the country aware of how severe a tornado can be.

When you don't have a place to get out of the way of a tornado, a lot of people get injured. Lose their lives. Hiding in a closet or get in a bathtub doesn't work when the whole house is hit and picked up off the foundation and thrown down the street. To continue this bike ride and to raise money to build community tornado shelters, I think that's my calling.

Join the movement. Impact your world. Go to CNN.com/impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Heroin has made a huge comeback in the U.S. just a few weeks ago, you saw the death of "Glee" actor Corey Monteith. He was found dead in a Vancouver hotel of a heroin overdose.

Its use has doubled in the last 10 years according to the U.S. government. Eighteen-year-old Jonathan Morelli was another heroin victim. He died earlier this year from an overdose in a Pittsburgh suburb. His brother says heroin ruins lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MORELLI, JONATHAN'S BROTHER: I'm like, this like shocks me, too, because the amount of people still continue to go out and use it, like there's no problem with it at all. I -- something that's $10 and comes in a little package, it's just unbelievable what it can do to someone's lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining us now is Jonathan's mother, Rachele Morelli, and also joining us is Bob Forrest. He runs a counseling center in Los Angeles.

Good to see both of you.

Well, Rachele, let me begin with you.

RACHELE MORELLI, PRODUCING FILM ABOUT HER SON'S LIFE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Did your son's drug use kind of sneak up on you, meaning you learned about it at the time of his death or did you know that there was a problem, that he had a heroin drug problem?

R. MORELLI: Well, it started eight years ago, my husband committed suicide when my son was in fourth grade and my son suffered from depression and I took him to doctors and got him on antidepressants. It wasn't until ninth grade when he had a rare (INAUDIBLE) and he was a case study that the prescribed him Vicodin. And they really didn't know how long he would be in pain so they kept giving him the prescriptions.

Well, the Vicodin ended up numbing his depression, made him feel better, made him feel normal. So he went out in search of more Vicodin. However, when he went to the school, there was no -- you know, there was no Vicodin to be found, but there was plenty of Oxycontin.

I started to notice change in his behavior. My son was a star athlete. He was an incredible student. Very smart. Very talented. I noticed he was sleeping a lot. He was starting to stay away from the family. He was avoiding everybody. His whole behavior changed. So we -- I went to the drug store, and I got a drug test and we drug tested him and it came up positive for opiates.

I sent him to rehab and he did really well. He was actually clean for about six months. When my son was in rehab, he had written journals. Now I was not able to see him because the HIPPA law and I was not actually able to read the journals until actually after my son had passed away and he explains in the journals about how his brain, how the drugs affected his brain. How -- the cravings that go on. That he was still drawn to it. Drawn to actually moving on to heroin from the pills.

And the second time then when he relapsed, he was shooting heroin and that's when we found out and then we sent him back to rehab.

WHITFIELD: And you know, many people will tell you, rehab only works if the person invites it, allows that rehab to work in their life.

So, you know, as a parent who's still grieving the loss of your son, you've been on this journey, seeing his drug use, misuse, how it became an addiction and then reading the journals, what kind of advice, if anything, do you offer to other parents or family members to identify that there's a problem and a way in which it should be addressed?

R. MORELLI: Well, people cannot afford not to know about heroin, about these pain pills. Everybody thinks not my kid. You know, there's such a stigma that goes along with addiction, that drug addicts are bad people. You know, people -- my son became addicted to drugs through a surgery.

Good people make bad decisions. This can happen to anybody and this drug is pure evil. It wants you dead. Even after people are in recovery, they still have to fight this battle every single day because the chemistry of their brain has been changed.

I'm from Pennsylvania. Our system -- the system that we have set up for addiction does not work. Changes need to be made. We need the Good Samaritan tin law. We need Narcan. We need rehabs available for people. Most insurances, they're only covering people for 14 days. Fourteen days is not long enough to fight this monster.

WHITFIELD: So, Bob, you know, you run a counseling center in Los Angeles. Is there a -- is there a simple explanation as to why is heroin making a comeback and why is it that young people in particular seem to be so sucked in to this drug. This latest, newest craze of use?

BOB FORREST, FOUNDER, BOB FORREST COUNSELING SERVICES: Well, if you look at the tendency of these overprescribed opiates in young people that lays the foundation for them migrating towards stronger opiates. This has been a problem ongoing for about 15 year, actually, where you're prescribing, you know, unending opiates to children, to 17- year-olds, 18-year-olds, from sports injuries, from, you know, back pain, car accidents. A back pain. Neck pain.

And so that lays the foundation for them to increase their tolerance, need more and more strong opiates, move to Oxycodon and end up heroin is the natural migration of that.

WHITFIELD: And so what is it about the supply of heroin? I mean, you know, call me ignorant to it, but I think there was a large thinking that heroin just wasn't even available anymore. It was gone. It was a drug of the past, a drug of the 70s, and how is it now that it is so available or is it the case that it is so pervasive, so available now?

FORREST: First off, let me say -- Rachele, amazing what she said. She is attuned to addiction. She is attuned to her son. She tried to get him help. The problem is the help available for these young people who haven't even begun their lives yet to be put through the 12-step absence phase programs. They get very, very resistant to it and we as clinicians need to be more attuned to that population because it's growing more and more. You see 50 percent of the population in treatment is under 25.

WHITFIELD: And treatment is not necessarily accessible. Treatment usually means expensive and so if a lot of these young people are finding themselves in the middle of addiction, you know, how accessible is help for them, Bob?

FORREST: Well, when you say 14 days in Pennsylvania or whatever it was, it needs to be 14 months and that just shocked everybody.

WHITFIELD: But generally not everyone would be able to afford that and as Rachele was underscoring there insurance doesn't necessarily -- isn't necessarily the answer.

FORREST: We need to rethink how we proceed with this. There needs to be a stepped down levels of care that goes on and on for up to a year. That's what Dr. Drew and I have been proselytizing for years. And we need to come together as a society and as a community to say listen, our children are dying. Thirty thousand young people are going to die this year of this.

WHITFIELD: Bob Forrest --

FORREST: You know, we need to step up. R. MORELLI: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Go ahead, Rachele.

R. MORELLI: Absolutely. In fact, in -- when my son died in February, there were five other overdoses that week. In my county alone, we are up to 70 overdoses since January. That's why I went -- I had sponsors and I took my own money and I created a film on my son's life and death and addiction on heroin because awareness needs to be spread.

These parents, these kids need to know, you know, one bad decision and you could be dead from this. This is not -- heroin doesn't affect the family or the addict. It takes down a whole family. I mean, it is the worst form of evil that there is and awareness needs to be spread.

People are dying every single day. If there was a natural disaster, the government comes in and will, you know, jumps in and sweeps up to help everybody. You know, we're in the middle of an epidemic. Lives are being lost every single day. Great kids, great people. Great families. This can happen to anybody.

WHITFIELD: Rachele Morelli, our hearts go out to you and your family as you continue to mourn the loss of your son, Jonathan. Thank you so much for your candor and effort to really try to spread the message and help so many other families.

And Bob Forrest, we thank you for your time as well.

R. MORELLI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And of course, you want to find out more about Rachele's movie, made about Jonathan's life, head to the jonathanmorrellistory.com site.

And this program reminder. Join Dr. Sanjay Gupta for his special report, "WEED." Airing tomorrow night, 8:00, right here on CNN.

Next in the CNN NEWSROOM, one of the hottest stars in R&B taking the witness stand. Usher fighting to keep his kids.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A victory for singer Usher. A judge has denied a motion from the R&B star's ex-wife to get temporary custody of their children. Tameka Foster Raymond petitioned the court after one of their two boys nearly drowned in a swimming pool.

CNN's Alina Machado has more on the drama that unfolded in court.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, what was supposed to be an hour long hearing turned into two hours of full of drama and emotion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO (voice-over): An unexpected embrace between Usher Raymond and his ex-wife moments after a judge ruled in the singer's favor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dismissing the motion.

MACHADO: The emergency hearing played out in a packed courtroom Friday. First on the stand was Tameka Foster Raymond, who was hoping to get temporary custody of her 4- and 5-year-old son after one of them nearly drowned in a pool earlier in the week. Her testimony was emotional.

TAMEKA FOSTER RAYMOND, USHER'S EX-WIFE: I don't know if my son is going to have a brain defect. I don't know that his heart is operating correctly. I don't know that my son is going to be 100 percent the boy he was that -- before this incident.

MACHADO: She kept her head down as they played the 911 call in court.

RENA ODEN, USHER'S AUNT: Is he breathing? Is he breathing? He's breathing.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: OK.

MACHADO: And at one point, Foster Raymond became so upset the judge intervened.

FOSTER RAYMOND: I never left the hospital, ever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is very difficult for you.

FOSTER RAYMOND: Ridiculous. This is ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Step down.

FOSTER RAYMOND: Thank you.

MACHADO: A sharp contrast from Usher, who appeared calm, even as he described trying to comfort his son the day of the accident.

USHER RAYMOND, SINGER: My son was hysterical and in the back of an ambulance. Very irate and I did my best to help him calm down. And help him understand what had taken place.

MACHADO: Rena Oden, Usher's aunt, the woman who was caring for the boys Monday, also took the stand. The judge found her to be a competent caregiver despite testimony from Foster Raymond saying she did not think Aunt Rena could handles the boys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: The judge found Aunt Rena to be a competent caregiver and said the pool incident was an awful accident. The 5-year-old, by the way, according to Usher's testimony, is doing much better and should be going home very soon -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Alina, for bringing that to us. Guess what, everybody? It is shark Saturday here on CNN. Next, you'll meet the men who get in the water with giant killer sharks and they'll explain why they do this. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Oh no, that has everybody singing. At least in the studio here.

OK. So that was a show that defined Saturday night for a generation and now the ship that inspired the "Love Boat" is making its final voyage to the scrap heap. No fair. According to Reuters, the MS Pacific known as the Pacific Princess when Captain Stubing was at the helm and Isaac was behind the bar.

(LAUGHTER)

It's bringing back memories, isn't it? OK. All that heading to a ship breaking yard off the coast of Turkey. That's where it will be stripped of its metal and parts, but not from our memory bank.

All right. It's time for our weekly series, "The Science Behind," where we give you the why behind the what. In this installment, we're taking a dive into the ocean to save a species we often fear.

Brian Todd takes us behind the science of saving the great white.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We just can't get enough of them. The ocean's most storied predator.

Hollywood's kept us fascinated since "Jaws." And this summer, the movie "Sharknado" and Discovery's much hyped "Shark Week" are drawing us back in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're almost there.

TODD: But how's this for a scare? You're inches away from a great white shark. It's on the lift of the vessel OCEARCH.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it.

TODD: It's been baited.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up on the buoy.

TODD: Hooked, and walked on to this platform. Fishing master Brett McBride jumps in, risking everything to guide the beast in. He's got to steady it, put a blanket over the eyes to calm it, get a line around its tail. One mistake, the shark wins.

(On camera): What do you tell your family about what you're doing here? BRETT MCBRIDE, FISHING MASTER, OCEARCH: That I'm being safe. You know, they know that this has been my whole life being around animals like this. And being in the ocean. Waiting for this. They know that I'm safe. I'm not a thrill seeker kind of person.

TODD (voice-over): A team of scientists has 15 minutes to take blood and tissue samples, place four tags on the shark, check to see if it's got health problems.

(On camera): Once the shark is on that lift, hydration is crucial. This hose runs nonstop. It attaches to this sleeve. They've got to run water through the shark's mouth to pump water through its gills to give it oxygen and water to survive. As you can see, this one's already been used on a great white shark.

Samples taken, tags attached, the shark is set free. The crew celebrates and gives this one a name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, girl. Yes, Lydia. Yes, yes, yes.

TODD: This is the work of OCEARCH, a non-profit research vessel. Renowned scientists teaming with expert fishermen to tag, track, and save the great white shark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tag is in. What's the time past the hour? Spot on.

TODD: On the dorsal fin, a satellite enabled transmitter tag allows anyone to log on to Ocearch.org and use the global tracker to see where the shark goes. Some of the ones tagged off Cape Cod have been tracked off the coast of Florida, Bermuda. Off the Cape, great whites attacks seals with a violent flourish.

But a big misconception is that they're a huge threat to us. Every year maybe five people are killed around the world by shark attacks. But we kill at least 38 million sharks a year.

I spoke with the expedition's chief scientist Greg Skomal.

(On camera): What happens if the shark population is decimated even more?

GREG SKOMAL, MASSACHUSETTS DIVISION OF MARINE FISHERIES: The sharks are a critical component. They're the top predators. You remove those top predators and something at which they feed may come out of balance and that which they feed upon suddenly be driven down.

You get this cascade of effects that ultimately causes real problems not only for the ocean but ultimately for man.

Brian Todd, CNN, off the coast of Cape Cod.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up in the next hour or this hour, we should say, Oprah Winfrey claiming that she was the victim of racism. It involves a purse that costs more than a car. Hear what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: But we are just one month away now from the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. It's getting a little scary. Six of our viewers on the Fit Nation team, along with me, some of the staff, are going to be swimming a half mile in the Pacific Ocean, biking 18 miles along the Pacific Coast highway and running four miles on the beach.

It's going to be a culmination of seven months of pretty intensive training that is changing each one of our teammates from sedentary to fit. I can also tell you they're happy and they're healthy.

If you're looking for a way to get fit as well, but you aren't quite ready to commit to a triathlon, let me give you this quick tip. Just try getting a little bit more sleep. Not only does sleep give you the emergency you need, but it also gives you the will power to not reach for that bag of potato chips the next day. A new study finds that less sleep actually means less activity in your frontal cortex. Front of your brain. That's the part of your brain that helps you make decisions about what to eat. You don't get enough sleep, you don't have the good judgment to make wise food choices.

I hope that helps. I hope all of you will join us next month here on CNN for the race and until then, of course, stay healthy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Oprah Winfrey says she was a victim of racism. The billionaire told "Entertainment Tonight" that she was in a Swiss handbag shop when the clerk refused to show her a crocodile skinned purse saying it was too expensive for her. But the store manager insists it was a misunderstanding, explaining the clerk wanted to show Winfrey the same make of a purse in a cheaper version.

The Tom Ford purse costs $38,000.

All right, dealing with racism is a prime theme in Oprah Winfrey's latest project. She plays the wife of "The Butler." That's the name of the film that is based on the life of Eugene Alan. He was a real butler in the White House who served eight presidents.

CNN's Nischelle Turner sat down with Winfrey and asked why she took on that role.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: So your first dramatic role in 15 years since you --

WINFREY: Can you believe that, Nischelle? Can you believe it? I know, really. What made me say yes to that?

TURNER: That was my question. What made you say yes?

WINFREY: I was going through it. I was going through building OWN and thank goodness we were on the other side. At least headed in the right direction for that. And I said to Lee, this is the worst time you could ask me to do anything, Lee. And you know, he just would not take no for an answer.

I think that one of the reasons why there's so much still lingering prejudice and racism is because we don't get to see people as ourselves, and so this was an opportunity, I thought, to let the world feel heart of "The Butler." The heart of this period that really was a defining period in the lives of many black people, but also our nation.

TURNER: I was going to say that, will this generation that sees this movie today, do you think they'll get Cecil Gaines, though? Or will they look at him as weak? Because he --

WINFREY: I certainly hope not. I certainly -- you know what I hope that this generation looks and sees is they see their own fathers. That's what I hope they look and see. And see their own fathers, and recognize that there were different ways of being a warrior.

That moment in the film where Cecil Gaines goes in and says the white help is making more than the black help here, and I think that's not fair and we should, you know, get equal pay. That is his way of warring.

TURNER: The conversation that is -- is had in this film about race, race relations, racism, we're still having that conversation today.

WINFREY: I think we'll be having that conversation.

TURNER: You think?

WINFREY: For a long time, because, you know, all of this, conversations about race, conversations about profiling, regardless of what race is being profiled, is really about our march to humanity. It's about our march to not fearing one another, and I think when you don't have stories and you don't have a placement in the culture where people can see that there's a whole tapestry -- you know, one of the reason why I love this film and wanted to be a part of it is because of the tenderness between the -- of the husband and wife. And the tenderness and nurturing nature of the middle-class family. You know, so many images --

TURNER: I had never seen that before.

WINFREY: I know you hadn't seen it before. You know? I know you hadn't seen it.

TURNER: Seriously. I've never seen that before.

WINFREY: Isn't that just shocking? And when I ask other people, white people, black people, when have you seen that tenderness and honor and respect and -- people who have been together and they can finish each other's sentences, and you can see the caring.

The caring that's in that family happens not just when they're in bed together, Cecil and Gloria, but when they're sitting at the table and finishing each other's sentences, and she said --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WINFREY: What was the name of that movie, honey?

FOREST WHITAKER, ACTOR, "THE BUTLER": "In the Heat of the Night."

WINFREY: "In the Heat of the Night."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WINFREY: "In the Heat of the Night." You can feel that.

TURNER: Do you feel like you still experience racism of any form?

WINFREY: I -- nobody's going to call up -- come up to me and call me the N word unless they're on Twitter and I can't find them.

(LAUGHTER)

TURNER: Twitter thugs are something else, right?

WINFREY: Twitter thugs. The Twitter thugs. The Twitter thugs. So I've learned to leave the Twitter thugs alone. So I guess -- unless it's something ridiculous, nobody is going to do it, but I experience racism in ways that you experience when you have reached a level where people can't call you to your face by -- you know, out of your name.

I experience it through people's expectations and lack thereof. And I use it to my advantage. It's a wonderful thing when people count you out because they think you can't do something. It's a wonderful thing. I always say this. There's a poem by Maya Angelou called "Our Grandmothers."

And there's a line in there that says, "When I walk into the room, I come as one, but I stand as 10,000." So when I walk into the room and I'm the only one standing in there, I'm the only one, it doesn't bother me a bit.

TURNER: Can I just ask you quickly about the good news that you got earlier this week, that OWN is going to turn a profit six months ahead of schedule?

WINFREY: Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you so much for that. Listen, from the beginning, Nischelle, everyone told me that it was going to take five years, but I think because it was my name on the channel, there was an expectation that people were just going to automatically turn on the TV, and even though nothing was there, they were going to just sit there and watch nothing.

So we had to build the channel. Now I always believed that it was going to take some time. What threw me off was when I finished the show, and then everybody said, why isn't it done yet? But what I do when the going gets rough, there's no such thing as quitting. I have to -- I sit with myself. I go inside and I say, all right, what is the next right move? What do I need to do to turn this around? And that's what we did. We did. Not I, but my team. Sheri Salata, Erik Logan, we had many, many, many, many, many a nights.

TURNER: So many Jesus come?

(LAUGHTER)

WINFREY: And honey, Jesus was at the table. Jesus was at that table.

(LAUGHTER)

That's why we're moving forward because Jesus was at the table. Thank you.

TURNER: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Round three of the PGA Championship is well under way in New York and chances are when it's all said and done tomorrow, we will be saying what we've been saying since 2008. Will we?

Tiger Woods is still looking for major victory number 15.

And joining me now is Rachel Nichols. That's kind of cold blooded, isn't it? I mean, totally out? No chance?

RACHEL NICHOLS, ANCHOR, CNN SPORTS: He's a little bit better than when we last spoke. A little less than an hour ago.

WHITFIELD: OK.

NICHOLS: He's made his way around more than half, of course. And he has gotten a couple of strokes back so we'll see how he digs in as he goes through the rest of the afternoon.

WHITFIELD: OK. So what else is up? Jason Dufner, get used to the name sort of, or maybe not anymore?

NICHOLS: Yes. Yes, yes. Jason Dufner is still your leader. He's an American. He went to Auburn. And he actually came close to winning this tournament two years ago. He had only three holes to play. He was up five strokes. It's almost as if he couldn't lose except, well, Fred, he lost. So that was bad.

However, in the time since he's not only gained confidence on the course, he is inspired a national trend. You have to look at this picture. This was a picture of Jason Dufner when he was doing a good thing. He was visiting a classroom in Texas, he was inspiring kids and instead they caught him, they snapped him slouchy, and he's slouching in this photo and it caused this trend called Dufnering.

WHITFIELD: Oh no. NICHOLS: And golfers all over the PGA started Dufnering and they themselves took pictures and put on Twitter of themselves slouching and Dufnering so I think you will see if he does end up winning this event not only is it payback for two years ago when he coughed up the lead and should have won and instead did not, but also it will be a victory for Dufnering, Fred, and you know, you've got to like that.

WHITFIELD: I know. I'm trying it out a little bit. The Dufnering. I don't know. It's kind of uncomfortable actually.

NICHOLS: Can you get it?

WHITFIELD: Yes. Uncomfortable. I'll go back to sitting straight up. All right. Thanks so much, Rachel Nichols.

NICHOLS: All right.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it. Keep us posted.

Much more NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Coming up in the 3:00 eastern hour of the CNN Newsroom, same-sex marriages still banned in Ohio, but one couple's court victory may change that. And one magazine, four covers, "Ebony" magazine taking on the Trayvon Martin controversy in a unique way, all that and today's top stories at 3:00 eastern time.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Coming up next, Chinese home buyers half a world away driving up prices in the city. YOUR MONEY starts right now with that.