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"Dramatic Situation" in Ukraine; Obama Weighs Options on ISIS Threat; The Next Generation of ISIS Terrorists; An Inside Look At North Korea; Heroin Use Exploding In America; Keeping Kids With Cancer Connected

Aired August 30, 2014 - 11:00   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. The 11:00 hour of the NEWSROOM starts right now.

A cancer that must be stamped out -- Secretary of State John Kerry is demanding a bigger response from the world in helping to defeat ISIS, a ruthless terrorist organization known for beheadings, crucifixions and they brag about recruiting children to fight for them. Kerry's comments after President Obama gets slammed this week for saying the U.S. doesn't have a strategy yet for dealing with ISIS in Syria.

And CNN goes inside North Korea getting a rare look at life inside the secret nation. We'll show you a hospital that is so modern that kids fake being sick just to be able to play inside.

Plus, comedian Joan Rivers in serious condition after suffering cardiac arrest -- her daughter giving new details on her mother's condition.

We begin in Ukraine where European leaders say things have gone from bad to worse. Here's what we know right now. A British government source tells CNN there are more Russian troops in eastern Ukraine than previously thought -- 4,000 to 5,000 as opposed to the 1,000 a U.S. official reported earlier. The British source says 20,000 additional troops are on the border right now and may be headed for Ukraine.

European leaders are meeting in Belgium right now to discuss the situation. Their response could include new sanctions on Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: We are in a very serious, I would say, dramatic situation. We may see a situation where we reach the point of no return. If the escalation of the conflict continues, this point of no return can come. I believe it's still not too late to find a political solution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The European commission also said he has spoken directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged him to, quote, "change course". But Putin's rhetoric is getting more defiant. During an appearance at a youth forum, Putin said Russia is strengthening its nuclear deterrent forces and its armed troops. Let's go live now to Moscow where our Matthew Chance is following all of the developments there. Matthew besides sanctions which haven't deterred Putin at all so far, what other options are European leaders considering?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think they have many other options apart from economic sanctions. I mean President Obama has made it quite clear he doesn't believe there's a military solution to this crisis in Ukraine. The United States certainly doesn't want to get involved in a military confrontation with Russia, nor does the European Union, the Western NATO alliance included.

And so when Vladimir Putin made those comments yesterday to that youth forum outside of Russia -- and this is exactly what he said. He said, "I hope everybody understands it's better not to mess with Russia. I would like to remind you that Russia is a nuclear super power and we continue to build up our nuclear and military capabilities.

When he said that, he was merely giving voice to what basically everybody involved in this conflict is actually thinking. They're not going to risk a war with Russia over Ukraine.

WHITFIELD: So Russia's still denying its troops are fighting in Ukraine dismissing NATO satellite images as a fabrication in fact, even insinuating that they're images from computer games. And so at the same it's calling on the pro-Russian rebels to create a corridor to let encircled Ukrainian troops retreat. Is that happening?

CHANCE: I'm not clear about whether that humanitarian corridor is actually being formed or not, but it's certainly true that the Kremlin called upon the rebels in Eastern Ukraine to create such a corridor because they've encircled Ukrainian forces, they've made some significant military gains in the past several days, and to save the lives, in the words of the Kremlin, of the Ukrainian government forces that have been surrounded, the suggestion was that these rebels open a humanitarian corridor and allow these Ukrainian forces to depart the battle zone, of course, handing over the territory to the rebels themselves.

In terms of what the foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov of Russia said about those latest NATO satellite images that have been released, he did dismiss them -- you're absolutely right. There's been in fact, categorical denials from all areas of the Russian government that's been commenting on this issue.

His reference to a video game though wasn't just out of the blue. You may remember about a month ago there were images that were floated on the social media, images that were put out by the Ukrainian media in fact that purported to show Russian troop movements from Russia into Ukraine, also showing artillery fire from Russia into Ukraine. It turns out that -- this led to a great deal of condemnation of Russia. But it turned out that some of these images were taken from a very popular computer game that was actually manufactured in Russia which Ukrainian -- somebody in Ukraine put out as actual photographs of the scene. So that's what Sergey Lavrov was referring to in his dismissal of the satellite images. WHITFIELD: All right Matthew Chance, thanks so much for that update.

Keep us posted from Moscow.

All right. Now to the threat from ISIS and a stern new warning from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry -- he says Islamic militants in Syria and Iraq must be eliminated but that the U.S. should not take them on alone.

In an opinion column for today's "New York Times", Mr. Kerry says this, quote, "With the united response led by the United States and the broadest possible coalition of nations the cancer of ISIS will not be allowed to spread to other countries. The world can confront this scourge and ultimately defeat it. ISIS is odious but not omnipotent.

Kerry's statement seems stronger than the President's remarks on Thursday when Mr. Obama suggested the U.S. had no strategy against ISIS in Syria.

Erin McPike is at the White House -- so Erin, Kerry's op-ed is more of a damage control after the President's comments on no strategy?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, really what it is, is buying time. The President is back here today. He came back last night from New York City from a fundraiser. He's going back to New York City later tonight for a wedding but he's here possibly for some meetings. We haven't gotten any sort of announcement on what those meetings are just yet. But what we also know from that op-ed is that as John Kerry said, they do need to get some foreign leaders on board.

So in that vein, President Obama will head to Wales on Tuesday for the NATO summit and he will confer with foreign leaders there.

Also Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and John Kerry will be going to that meeting with European allies of the United States. From there, they head to the Middle East to meet with Middle Eastern leaders to get them on board. And then later in September, the United States is hosting the presidency of the U.N. Security Council so that they can then apply more pressure because the United States does not want to act unilaterally and so that will take some effort -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then is there any word on whether the President meeting with his national security council will be making a decision. If and when that decision does come about, if that would even be made public?

MCPIKE: Well, Fred there is no time frame just yet. The Pentagon has presented the President with some kind of option, but really what we understand from the White House is that President Obama is weighing his options. There is no final plan in place just yet for how to deal with ISIS especially in Syria and that's what they're working toward.

But the other thing I would point out is that Congress does not come back into session until September 8th and they're only here for about two weeks. So the timeline is going to be kind of tricky if he does go to Congress to get congressional authorization for whatever might occur -- Fred. WHITFIELD: All right. Erin McPike at the White House, thanks so

much.

All right. A few other stories that we're watching. In Texas a federal judge had thrown out key parts of the state's new abortion restrictions that would have forced the closure of more than a dozen clinics. The judge ruled the restrictions imposed an undue burden on women. Texas officials are appealing.

And some good news out of that mine collapse in Nicaragua. At least 20 of the 26 trapped miners have been rescued alive. Rescuers say at least five miners remain underground. Crews are still working to find them. They have been trapped since Thursday when a cave-in buried them in a mine tunnel.

All right. Also this update on the condition of comedian Joan Rivers. Her daughter Melissa says Rivers is resting comfortably in a New York hospital. Her condition has not improved and remains serious. Rivers, who is 81 years old, stopped breathing during a medical procedure Thursday and has been in a medically induced coma ever since.

WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead, we've got a rare look inside North Korea. Our CNN cameras show you some pretty amazing sights from the city's capital, including a hospital that is so cool kids fake being sick just to get inside.

But first, brutal ISIS militants are grooming the next generation of extremists. They are actually sending young kids to ISIS training camps.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Children across the U.S. are headed back to school this time of year. They're learning their math and their ABCs. But in Syria, some kids are being sent to ISIS camps to learn the Koran and how to shoot a gun. And it's all part of building an Islamic State known as a caliphate.

Nick Payton Walsh looks at the children of ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): ISIS wants their caliphate to span generations, so ideas are crammed into minds that are often too young to understand. Like these weapons, absurdly held and manipulated by limbs that cannot control them. Yet still, ISIS films and boasts of their youngest.

Mohamed (ph) has now fled to safety in Turkey, but was aged 13 when ISIS said he should attend their children's camp in the Syrian city of Raqqa. His father didn't agree.

"They didn't threaten me," he says, "but they threatened my father. When he prevented me from going to jihad and the camp, they said they'd cut off his head. We stayed in the camp for a month," he says. "Every morning we exercised, jogging and such and had breakfast. Then we studied religion, the Koran and the life of the prophet. Then we took a course on weapons, the Kalashnikov and other light military stuff.

It's rare testimony from schools where boys learn Koranic verse by rote, as you hear in this ISIS video and from which few escape and about which fewer talk. "I understood some things, such as praying and worship, he says, but many words I didn't understand like infidels and apostates and why I should fight them. Everybody pledged allegiance. Everybody who went to the camp pledged allegiance to Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi."

They take an oath, yes, seen here, but are also indoctrinated into ISIS's barbaric system of justice.

"They ordered us to come at a specific time," he says, "and a specific place to watch heads being cut off, lashing or stoning. We saw some of these scenes. We saw a young man who didn't fast during the holy month of Ramadan, so they crucified him for three days. And we saw a woman being stoned to death because she committed adultery." This boy has learned his lines, but they, too, know death too young.

"There was one of my friends," he says, "who went with them for a battle, and he was martyred in (inaudible) when he fought the Free Syrian Army rebels with ISIS. He was my age, 13 or 14 years old." Merely a year into its creation, so much ISIS has already damaged that cannot be undone.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Recruiting young people is only part of the brutality being tied to ISIS. How is the U.S. going to deal with this militant group? As I mentioned a moment ago, Secretary of State wrote about ISIS in the "New York Times" today. Here's another part of what he said. This from Kerry: "Already our efforts have brought dozens of nations to this cause. Certainly there are different interests at play but no decent country can support the horrors perpetuated by ISIS and no civilized country should shirk its responsibility to help stamp out the disease." Those words from Secretary Kerry.

Let's bring in General Spider Marks -- he is CNN's military analyst and a former senior intelligence officer in the U.S. Army. Good to see you.

GEN. JAMES SPIDER MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hi Fredricka, how are you?

WHITFIELD: I'm pretty good. So just before this Labor Day weekend, the President has taken some flak for saying he doesn't have a specific strategy for ISIS when asked about it. Do you take him literally that there's no strategy or is it simply no strategy that he, the White House is willing to make public?

MARKS: No, I think he -- this is well-deserved flak that he's getting. The President of the United States should not and he did stand up and say I don't have a strategy, I'm not prepared for this engagement that we're faced with, this challenge that we're faced with. The tone of this engagement is being set by ISIS. When you're reactionary and when you're executing tactical air strikes, which is what they are, these are tactical air strikes, you're letting the enemy in this case set the tone of the engagement. And that's exactly what they're doing.

We don't have a strategy and we can't establish a strategy or we can't execute appropriately until a strategy's in place because we don't know what right looks like, we don't know what the horizon needs to look like. And we need to know when we're there. We can't do that without a strategy. So it's absolutely essential.

WHITFIELD: When we talk about this strategy, are we talking strictly militarily?

MARKS: No.

WHITFIELD: Is diplomacy off the table? What should be incorporated in this strategy?

MARKS: Strategy must entail all elements of power. Diplomacy, economics, military, there are coalitions that have to be built along each one of those verticals and they have to be synchronous. Our diplomacy has to be in support of -- our economic posture has to be in support of our alliances and our coalitions. And it has to support -- and our military efforts have to support those as well.

Right now, what we have is a military effort that's being executed magnificently, but we don't know what the desired end state is. And we're now cobbling together, which is ok, if you're going to cobble -- cobble it together as quickly as possible. But let's get something labeled as a strategy and then everybody can walk and execute their tasks synchronously off the same page. It has to be done.

WHITFIELD: When you hear the President, Secretary Kerry, even the ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, all used the word "cancer" in talking about the spread of ISIS and that's what it's like.

Can you infer any kind of real immediacy here, or is this something because this, you know, conflict particularly in Syria has been going on for a couple of years ISIS has been able to, you know, grow thrive, over the past couple of years, is a solution whether it's militarily, diplomatically -- is it a solution that needs to be or a strategy that needs to be put into play in a matter of weeks, months? Or is this really, you know, just a long-term project?

MARKS: Well, it is very much a long-term project. I think the analogy of a cancer is absolutely spot on. We've been trying to attack cancer for years and years and years. We have a strategy. We have research. We have development taking place. Yet we continue on a tactical level to go after that horrible, insidious disease.

ISIS, not unlike cancer, needs to be attacked on multiple levels and you start now. If you don't have anything in place now, you start now. But you realize of course, Fredricka that this is going to be a long-term engagement. What we're doing now might provide some pause and give us some good insights, but we have to establish what the bounds need to look like so we can operate very effectively and establish the momentum that we can use to our advantage.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. We're going to give this conversation some pause, General and let you get some hot water to take care of that throat.

MARKS: I know. My apologies.

WHITFIELD: I'm sorry. I totally know what that's like. I get it. General Marks, good to see you. Thanks so much.

MARKS: Thank you Fred.

WHITFIELD: Ok.

All right. There are hundreds of Westerners, by the way, including Americans fighting for extremist groups around the world. Coming up in the next hour, we'll actually meet one youth worker in Minnesota who is trying to help kids at risk, trying to prevent them from being radicalized.

Also, still to come. There's plenty of secrecy about the latest iPhone, but there are also plenty of leaks. I bet you can't wait to hear about the latest rendition of the iPhone. Our tech guy has what you need to know next. ,

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. You iPhone fans out there, guess what, a new one is about to be released. I bet you probably already knew that and the hype has already begun. Lots of new releases -- all things Apple. This news has met with rumors, pictures have been leaked and of course there are a lot of naysayers already.

Here are some of the leaked photos of the iPhone 6. They're posted all over the Internet. I should say here at CNN that we cannot verify the authenticity. But these images have everybody on the Internet buzzing and complaining even about what the new phone looks like. The word most often used describes this new iPhone as ugly. Why?

I want to talk with our Brett Larson about all this. I don't know -- it doesn't look that different to me than the 5. So what are they talking about?

BRETT LARSON, CNN TECHNOLOGY ANALYST: I think it's hilarious, you know, Fred, this iPhone 6 is the longest awaited. I mean we thought that the iPhone 5s was going to be the 6. So people are really anticipating this. And what's so crazy about it as you can see -- so many leaks. We've seen specs. We've seen the patent applications for different things that are inside.

We've seen all this stuff that's building up to the hype. Even yesterday as you mentioned, I saw a review of that said, you know the iPhone 6 is here and it's ugly. And it's not even here. It's not even going to be announced officially until the 9th of September -- 9/9 -- that's next month.

But what's interesting, look, it follows along with w the pattern of what Apple does in that the iPhone and the iPad sort of have this symbiotic relationship where the iPad gets a little curve to it. Now the iPhone's going to have a little bit of a curve to it.

CASONE: I mean that makes perfect sense.

WHITFIELD: Rounded edges. All right. What's the big deal about that? I mean why does that ruffle feathers?

LARSON: I have no idea. Rounded edges -- it fits better in your hand and it has a nicer look to it.

WHITFIELD: You'll drop it less.

LARSON: You hope you drop it less. And if you do, Fred, it has the new sapphire glass allegedly which is very strong.

WHITFIELD: So a little less shattering less shattering.

LARSON: You'll see less of those people that, you know, they go to use their phone and they pull their finger only to find that it's bloody from all the shards --

WHITFIELD: Right. So what are they going to do, I guess that my iPhone 5 doesn't do.

LARSON: Yes, you know -- and again, this is what we're seeing right now in the smartphone market place, it's just saturation. So that is a very valid question. What's it going to do?

WHITFIELD: The mystery.

LARSON: Exactly. What this magical -- and we've heard a lot of things. Obviously it's going to have a faster processor and more memory inside to hold your pictures and it will be connected better to the Internet and that's going to run Iowa. It's eight which has -- I don't know -- some new Whizz-bang features that are still in the works.

We're hearing rumors that amongst everything we're hearing is a rumor, I should say, it might have near field communication which is a form of wireless payment. It may finally do the wireless charging where you can just set it down and it will charge without having to plug it in. So those will be good things, but we shall see if people will line up for them.

WHITFIELD: People are going to line up. They will line up not knowing what the heck it is going to offer or promise.

LARSON: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: Just because they want to be the first ones to have it. That's just the way it goes.

LARSON: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: That's the trend.

LARSON: And we'll be there to talk to them.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's right. And then you can tell us how to, you know, make it work -- how to work that thing.

All right. Brett Larson, CNN technology analyst, always good to see you. Happy Labor Day weekend.

LARSON: Thanks Fred. You too.

WHITFIELD: All right thanks so much.

Also, we are getting a rare look inside North Korea. And what you see might actually surprise you -- might surprise you. A deluxe water park for one. What else our CNN crew saw and what remains hidden? All that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the big stories crossing the CNN news desk right now.

Ukraine fears Russia's next target is Mariupol, a port city that isn't far from several other eastern towns where Ukrainian troops are fighting pro-Russian rebels now being reinforced by Russian forces. Ukraine's military says Russian intelligence groups were spotted there. Now Ukrainian troops are working to fortify the area.

And a British government source estimates up to 5,000 Russian troops are now fighting alongside the rebels in Luhansk and Donetsk.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has issued a stern new warning about fighting ISIS. He says Islamic militants in Syria and Iraq must be eliminated. In a "New York Times" opinion column, Kerry called ISIS a cancer that needs to be confronted by a coalition of nations led by the U.S.

And Ebola has spread to a fifth country in Western Africa. The World Health Organization says the Ebola outbreak is still accelerating and has already killed more than 1,500 people.

An infected university student is in quarantine in Senegal after crossing the border from Guinea. Senegal closed its border to Guinea last week, but somehow, the young man managed to get across.

And comedian, Joan Rivers, remains hospitalized this weekend. Her daughter, Melissa, says Rivers is resting comfortably in a New York hospital and her condition remains serious. Rivers who is 81 stopped breathing during a medical procedure Thursday at a clinic. An ambulance rushed her to the hospital where she has been in a medically induced coma.

And it's a country that's very visible yet so much of what goes inside its borders is secret. North Korea has drawn the world's attention with its nuclear program threats. It's known for images like these.

Intense loyalty to its leaders, even boasting 100 percent of voters electing Kim Jong-Un earlier this year. But it's hard to know what's real with the government's iron grip on everything.

CNN had a chance to go inside North Korea for a rare look. Will Ripley takes us to the capital city of Pyongyang.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The moment we land in North Korea, it feels like we're walking into a time warp, a nation decades behind the developed world trying to catch up and trying even harder to control the flow of information.

From the route we take to the pictures we take, government minders are watching our every move. They control what we see and what we don't see. Our first stop, the birthplace of the nation's founder, a man they call their eternal president, Kim Il-Sung.

(on camera): Every North Korean who comes to Pyongyang will visit at least once. This is considered a sacred place and coming here is a pilgrimage.

(voice-over): These students traveled 23 hours to drink from the Kim family's well. I want to come back again says this 12-year-old. He comes from a rural area in the far north. A far cry from the capital, the show piece of the nation.

(on camera): This is the most modern children's hospital in the entire country. It took about a year to build, opened up six months ago. It's not just the medical equipment that's state of the art. We're told kids actually pretend to be sick just so they can use the playground.

(voice-over): There are 300 beds in this hospital in a city of more than 2.5 million people. It's one of several pet projects of the nation's young leader, Kim Jong-un, who inherited power from his father and grandfather before him.

Another priced project, the massive water park finished in just nine months.

(on camera): We're told Kim Jong-un meticulously scrutinized every detail of this water park. He examined the plans personally we're told 113 times and even had his high-ranking government officials test out those water slides to make sure they were safe.

(voice-over): As these people play, the United Nations worries others are suffering. The World Food Program says many North Koreans face regular food shortages. You wouldn't know it with all the money spent on projects like this. Here no expense is fair to put a modern happy face on Pyongyang. The rest of North Korea is kept hidden from our cameras and the eyes of the outside world. Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And back in this country, just a few weeks after a deadly crash on a dirt track, one of the stars of NASCAR will be back racing this weekend. Is it too soon?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Are you ready? Millions around the country know that we're getting very close to fall because it's the first weekend of college football of course. The preseason top team in the nation faces a tough test today, but it's just one of the many games.

Brian McFayden is live for us at the big fanfare event called Tailgate Town in Atlanta. My gosh, I saw all the Alabama -- West Virginia, what else is out there?

BRIAN MCFAYDEN, HLN SPORTS ANCHOR: My God, I've got Alabama Crimson Tide. Can barely hear. There's the number two team in the nation going up against West Virginia Mountaineers. It's going to be an amazing matchup. It's going to be an amazing game.

We've got a lot of top 25 teams going up against each other. National champions, Florida State take on Oklahoma State tonight in Tallahassee. Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Jaymess Winston is back along with most of their offensive line.

We're keeping an eye on the Georgia Bulldogs who take on the Clemson Tigers. The Bulldogs will try to bounce back from a heart breaking loss in last year's season opener. Georgia's Heisman Trophy candidate, Todd Girly could be that difference maker too.

And the big 10 meets the SEC's the Badgers battle it out with the LSU Tigers. This game will certainly be a test for two new quarterbacks. And, Fredricka, I'm tailgating with some of the best fans in the entire world.

WHITFIELD: I see.

MCFAYDEN: Food, drinks, great atmosphere. These people are getting louder. All right. All right. On this side, one, two, three, roll Tide! One, two, three, go Mountaineers! It's a tossup of who's louder.

WHITFIELD: Need some crowd control. OK. So as it pertains to the whole tailgating thing, usually good food. What are they serving? I see they're serving a lot of enthusiasm, but what else?

MCFAYDEN: They're serving a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of food and lots of beers. This is going to be crazy. I can't hear anything you're saying to me right now because I'm now deaf in my left ear.

WHITFIELD: That's OK. Everyone's having a good time. Hopefully you can hear me the next time. Brian, having a blast with the West Virginia and Alabama folks. Good luck to both sides.

All right, straight ahead, a new threat in the war on drugs. This deadly fix is spreading like an epidemic because it's cheap. Sometimes as little as $6 a hit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Now to a story we're covering all week on CNN in a series called, "Deadly Fix." Abuse of prescription painkillers in the United States. Experts are calling it worse than crack in the 1980s and it's leading directly to an explosion of heroin use across the country.

Heroin deaths spikes more than 80 percent in New York from 2010 to 2012, but it isn't just an inner city crisis. Vermont Governor Peter Shemlin says his state is in a full blown heroin crisis.

The primary reason for the heroin explosion, it's cheap. Sometimes selling for as little as $6 a bag. Deborah Feyerick has more on this American epidemic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You coming upside street behind where you're at?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's just after dinner on an ordinary Thursday night in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got a visual on the guy that's the seller.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The buyer is -- I guess, he texted to say he's on the way.

FEYERICK: Lieutenant David Betts and his narcotics officers are gathering intelligence on a controlled drug deal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much is it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's five bags. Five bags of heroin.

FEYERICK: Chelsea is north of Boston just over the bridge across the mystic river. And like many other cities and towns across America, police here have seen a demand for heroin skyrocket.

LT. DAVID BETZ, CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS POLICE: Drugs, you hate to say they're as American as apple pie, but they're here. They're not going anywhere.

FEYERICK: The growing epidemic is fueled in part by people increasingly hooked on prescription painkillers. People looking to heroin as a cheaper way to get high. People like Marie, who grew up here and took her first hit two decades ago at age 16. We agreed to protect her identity. How often do you do heroin now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Several times a day. Like right now, I've already done two 40 packages today.

FEYERICK: Do you have one supplier? Do you have multiple suppliers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Possible. You always need multiple because sometimes one isn't always around, so you need a backup dealer.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Police here say the majority of drugs, 60 percent, are sold in and around the public park by Chelsea Townhall. An endless flow of traffickers, suppliers, sellers and buyers.

(on camera): How do they find their way here into a place like Chelsea?

BETZ: They almost have like a network. They'll send them out like delivery guys and say, you go to Chelsea for the day, another city for the day and they'll explain the network like that.

FEYERICK: What's the most number of times somebody's been arrested?

BETZ: Well over 200.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Back at Chelsea Police Headquarters, the evidence room is nearly filled to capacity.

BETZ: These are all heroin cases and cocaine cases that we've worked on. Twist is just the corner of the sandwich bag, but they will take.

FEYERICK: Can I hold this?

BETZ: Go ahead.

FEYERICK (voice-over): A twist of heroin that costs a fraction of a single prescription painkiller. This batch of heroin is worth $300.

(on camera): Do you have the same amount of Oxycontin, what would it be?

BETZ: Over $2,000.

FEYERICK: Police say that about half the people arrested here in Chelsea for either selling or buying heroin, they're not even from here. They don't live in Chelsea. They're coming from other cities and towns.

BETZ: We know certain communities are more affluent and they'll ask me, how did you end up here from a suburb with million dollar homes? They'll say they got hooked on opiates, they ran out of money. They're not available there like they are here.

FEYERICK (voice-over): And those who grew up in Chelsea, Marie says she wants to move first chance she gets, hoping to run from the addiction she calls a life sentence.

(on camera): You OD'ed five times. Do you ever think, why did I wake up?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every time. I can't even die right. Like, I'd rather be in the ground than continue like this.

FEYERICK (voice-over): An endless cycle of drugs in small towns trying to stand the time.

BETZ: I woke up tomorrow, do it all again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Deborah Feyerick, thanks so much for that. You can find out much more on the deadly web of addiction. Just go to cnn.com/deadlyfix.

Next, a mission to help kids with cancer feel better by keeping them connected with their friends. Don't miss this remarkable story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and today, we bring you the story of a father and son, who made it their mission, to treat a side effect that doesn't get a whole lot of attention, social isolation. Here's Randi Kaye with today's "American Journey."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 2002, when Matt Forkas was just 9 years old, he was diagnosed with cancer, acute lymphatic leukemia. He was too ill to go to school.

LEN FORKAS, FOUNDER, HOPECAM: Nine-year-old kids need their friends and it was lonely. It was depressing.

KAYE: So Matt's father, Len Forkas came up with an idea to combat his son's loneliness. He reconnected his son to his classroom using web cameras. Remember this was 2002, long before Skype.

(on camera): Do you remember what it was like before you first connected with your class?

MATT FORKAS, HOPECAM'S FIRST CONNECTED CHILD: When I first connected, the internet connection was a little slow, but it flicked on and right when it flicked on, it was like an internal soul flicker.

KAYE (voice-over): Sharing ups and downs with classmates made treatment easier.

MATT FORKAS: I had steroids and my face got puffy and I look in the mirror like this isn't me, but when they saw me on the camera, they still saw me for what I was so it felt really, really good.

KAYE: The hope Matt felt was the inspiration for Hopecam, the charity his dad started a year after Matt's diagnosis. It cost about $1,200 to connect each child and they pay for everything. Hopecam has already connected over 400 children with cancer to their classrooms in 26 states.

Including Ava Buhr, in 2011 when she was just two and a half, Ava was diagnosed with leukemia. She needed chemotherapy and lots of rest, but Hopecame helped her stay in touch with her friends at preschool.

AVA BUHR, HOPECAM CONNECTING CHILD: We listen and learn. We dance and sing. I get to see my classmates and teachers.

KAYE: Today, Ava is in remission and starting kindergarten in the fall.

LEN FORKAS: No one thinks about the mental health of the child and that's what Hopecam does, it fills the empty void and social connection that is so often overlooked.

KAYE: Len has raised over $300,000 for the charity by competing in Race Across America, a solo bike race that spans 3,000 miles. Last year, he and his son claimed more than 19,000 feet above sea level. Matt raised more $25,000 for Hopecam on that trip, and honored a different child each day.

MATT FORKAS: It's Hopecam for a reason. It gives them hope again. It's truly, truly amazing.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Vienna, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: What an inspiration.

All right, you may have been pretty busy this week and maybe some funny videos online, but not to worry. That's what we're all about here. We pulled together some of the top clips this week.

First up, human catapulting. Looks good. As long as you hit that mark, right? This was posted on YouTube by Devin Super Tramp and Board Company, and it got more than 800,000 views. Wow.

Next up, Johnny Football, working hard for the money. Like you've never seen him before in this new Snickers ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, gang, work those thighs. Who's got a pelvis? Now, do some arm circle things. Now, do this. Now, let me see you boogie. What's my name?

ALL: Johnnie jam boogie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eat a Snickers? Because you're Johnny Football.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, well, that commercial has received more than 700,000 views on YouTube already and those are our viral videos of the week. Hope we made you laugh a little bit.