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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Hidden Spending; Cheney's Secrecy; Running Mates: Rudy's Judy; When Fish go Bad; Bullied No More; Greenest Companies
Aired June 21, 2007 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Democrats promise to do better and to come clean and cut spending. We're keeping them honest.
Also, Vice President Cheney doesn't simply want to keep some of work secret. He doesn't just want to keep his list of what's secret secret. One lawmaker says he's also trying to put the people who are trying to find out out of business.
And later, your favorite story and ours, when carp attack. Our David Mattingly putting -- well, not really his life on the line exactly, but his body maybe to get the story.
We begin with earmarks. This year members of the House and Senate have put in 32,000 requests to spend your money on pet projects. Last year they approved $29 billion in earmarked items for everything from schools and hospitals to ski lifts and bridges to nowhere.
Get this -- they weren't even disclosing who sponsored what until after the fact, after your money was already dished out.
Well, today Illinois Senator Barack Obama became the first presidential candidate to disclose his earmarks, but he's a rarity in Congress and even within his own party which says it stands for transparency and accountability.
CNN's Drew Griffin, tonight, is keeping them honest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before they came to power, Democrats vowed to fix the broken earmark process. They promised complete transparency, no secret spending no, no back room deals.
REP. DAVID OBEY (D), HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS CHAIRMAN: I'm now trying, and so is our leadership, to reduce earmarks by at least 50 percent.
GRIFFIN: So has anything changed?
Keeping them honest, we put our intrepid CNN interns on the case. They called the offices of every single member of Congress asking just one question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm calling with CNN, and I'm trying to see if we can get a copy of the Congressman's earmark requests for this year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was calling because we were trying to obtain a list of the Congressman's earmark requests.
GRIFFIN: What they found wasn't exactly a show of complete transparency.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First I got quite a few yeses. And so I got all excited, and oh, yay! Congress is being nice to me. And then they said they would e-mail back or call back and by the end of the day I had nothing.
GRIFFIN: Our results after three days of actually calling each and every House office, 34 members of Congress -- just 34 -- sent us their earmark requests.
But since then, a wave of pressure has apparently changed some minds. Our report caught the attention of political bloggers, demanding Congress release its requests.
The "Chicago Tribune" read an editorial asking why members of the Illinois delegation were being so secretive.
And today Barack Obama raised the stakes in the presidential race.
(on camera): And guess what? Our interns' phones are now ringing with calls from Congress, 11 more U.S. representatives have decided to release their requests for our money.
(voice-over): As it stands right now, 45 have turned over their requests, 68 flat out refused, 6 told us they did not make any earmark requests. But the majority, 316 never responded. We should note that some we called were downright hostile.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was really mean about it, though.
GRIFFIN: Not even letting us finish the question. Like an aide to New York Democrat Charles Rangel.
TODD SCHWARZSCHILD, CNN ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: When I called Congressman Rangel's office, I got one of his press aides who before I could even answer the question said no. I know what you're going to ask me. No. And he said good day and then hung up on me.
GRIFFIN: Word of our requests apparently traveled fast in the halls of Congress.
CHAMISE JONES, CNN INTERN: When I called and asked for the earmark requests, he was like no. And he was like, just like no one else is going to give it to you. I knew about you. I heard you were calling. I was waiting for to you call me.
GRIFFIN: As long as we are not required to release them, we're not going to, said an aide to Louisiana Republican Jim McCrery. But some didn't need our prompting. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, bye-bye.
GRIFFIN: Maverick Freshman Democrat Nancy Boyda, New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand and Republican John Campbell of California all had already posted their earmark requests on their web pages.
Last week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed a new open earmark process, saying finally the American people will know where their money is going and then, she said this.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: If I just might direct the record to another place, why don't we just leave this room today, forgetting the word "earmark." This is legislatively directed spending, as opposed to executive spending.
GRIFFIN: And Ms. Pelosi, for the record, a member of your staff told us you would not reveal your legislatively directed spending requests.
(on camera): But the pressure is on. Our viewers, responding to our blog, say they are calling their representatives, asking why they are not putting their earmarks on our poll. The poll we continue to update daily.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: you can try calling your Congressperson. If you have any better luck, let us know.
Congressman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois chairs the House Democratic caucus. A few days ago he called us, taking exception to some of our earmark reporting. So we invited him on the program tonight to make his case.
Congressman Emanuel and I spoke earlier this evening.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Congressman Emanuel, you released your request for earmarks on Monday. So far only 45 out of some 435 Congress people have actually released the earmarks. Shouldn't the American people know what their representatives want to spend taxpayer money on?
REP. RAHM EMANUEL (D), ILLINOIS: Sure and they are going to. Because that's some of the things that the Democrats have done. Let me take people two steps back and then drive through. In the past, nobody knew who was sponsoring anything. Nobody knew what they voted on until the year after the fact and they found these roads to nowhere and other types of projects.
The reforms we put in places, you have to -- I have to put all my name on every project and every what I call community investment I'm asking for.
Second, you know before you vote on it, not a year after the fact.
And third, we've cut in half the amount of earmarks.
I took the extra step because I wanted to show everybody there will be good things and things people want to ask questions about.
COOPER: There's no doubt the Democrats have pushed for greater transparency and some of these new rules are going to ensure that, but still, people are only going to be able to know who requested the earmarks that actually make it into the bill.
EMANUEL: Right.
COOPER: And what the Democrats were trying to do...
(CROSSTALK)
EMANUEL: Well, no...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: ... is trying to make it so that only after the bills had passed the House and the Senate, would they actually be revealed.
EMANUEL: Two things. One is the ones that are in the bills are the ones you should know about because those are the only ones that have a chance of becoming law.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: No, but shouldn't we know what our Congress people want to spend our money on?
EMANUEL: That's what the constituents will ask for. Do you have a right to know everything? Yes, you do. And that's why 45 of us have taken those steps and other members will take the steps that they think is appropriate.
What happens on the legislation is what has a chance of becoming law and that's what you're going to know. And remember, it's in direct contrast to what happened for the last 12 years in Republican rule.
COOPER: You have taken this extra step. You said, you know what? It's important that everybody in the country knows exactly how all my requests -- whether or not my requests actually get into a bill, whether or not all of my requests are approved, you think it's important that people know.
(CROSSTALK)
EMANUEL: Well, I...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: And you should be applauded for that. But most of people in Congress seem ashamed almost or want to keep this stuff secret.
EMANUEL: No.
COOPER: I don't understand why. Can you explain to me?
EMANUEL: Well, first -- I understand the desire to say, oh, Congress isn't doing this. I'm going to stick on this one point. I'm going to Johnny one-note with you. We made a pledge. That pledge was kept, Republican Congressmen Jeff Flake praised us for that pledge.
That -- and so I'm more than willing to say what more should we do, but I won't get to the what more until we acknowledge that actual real transparency, real accountability was made, it's different than the past, and in fact, Republicans who have been championing this had acknowledged Democrats did the tough stuff to get this done.
COOPER: I'm going to try one more time and be Johnny one-note on my side.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I know. We're two Johnny one-notes. But you said...
(CROSSTALK)
EMANUEL: I hope we're not losing audience share doing that.
COOPER: You said you don't want to talk about what other Democrats are doing. You are in the Democratic leadership.
EMANUEL: Yes.
COOPER: Will you advise your fellow Democrats to do what you did and just put out their requests? Again, the only way people know whether these requests are valid or not is...
EMANUEL: It's not the only way. It's not the only way.
COOPER: Well, it really is for us people at home, you know, to be able to go online and look, you know, what does my Congressman want to spend my money on and what do these other Congressmen want to spend money on?
EMANUEL: Well, first of all, if a member comes to me and asks, I tell them why I did what I did. No reporter asks me, nobody in my community asks me. And I understand you say you guys at home, but the fact is, if a member asks my advice, I'll say, hey, let me tell you what my kind of reasoning for this and I gave them the reason.
I led the efforts with other Democrats and Republicans for this type of transparency. The things I noted to you were done. I led that effort. I took this extra step so people have -- not only in the district, in my district, but the larger public, given that you said I have this leadership role, have the confidence of that transparency, that I'm practicing what I preach.
COOPER: Congressman Emanuel, I appreciate your time.
EMANUEL: Thank you, Anderson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Just to make it clear, our mission of keeping them honest is nonpartisan. You've told us that, you expect no less. And we try to live up to it as best we can.
So now we'll look at Vice President Cheney who may just be the most secretive and powerful vice president ever. He plays it is close to the vest. We all know that.
But now a leading Democrat, perhaps equally powerful on his own turf, is calling him on it.
More from CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The vice president's office is keeping a secret. The secret is over how many secrets it keeps.
An order by President Bush requires Cheney's office to tell the National Archives how many documents it classifies or declassifies each year. For years, the vice president's office has refused.
Now, Cheney's solution to the dispute? Just abolish the office asking for the records. That, according to Congressman Henry Waxman, who heads the Congressional committee investigating the matter.
He warned Cheney in a letter that his actions could be downright criminal, saying, I question both the legality and wisdom of your actions.
For Cheney's part, his camp would neither confirm nor deny whether they sought to abolish the National Archives office seeking the vice president's records. But they did respond to Waxman's accusation, saying we are confident that we are conducting the office properly under the law.
That executive order Mr. Bush signed in 2003 requires all agencies and any other entity within the executive branch to report its records for classifying top secret documents.
But according to Waxman, the vice president's office is now claiming it is not an entity within the executive branch. Sound cut and dry? Not exactly.
If abolishing the National Archives office doesn't work, Cheney's office has another tactic. They say as vice president, Cheney also serves as the president of the Senate, which means he's in the unique position of straddling the executive and legislative branches.
STEVEN AFTERGOOD, FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS: It's transparently silly. If it were true, then we would have to rewrite all of the textbooks that we all grew up with. It's obvious that the vice president's office is part of the executive branch, and to claim otherwise is preposterous.
MALVEAUX: Those textbooks say the U.S. Constitution establishes the office of vice president under executive branch, Article II, Section 1.
(on camera): What is also interesting is that the Bush administration has made the case numerous times for keeping information secret, citing executive privilege and executive power. So it seems inconsistent that the vice president's office is now saying that he's in a unique position.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Some perspective now from CNN's John King and former Presidential Adviser David Gergen. We spoke earlier tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: John, what is going on here? Can the vice president really assert his office is not and entity within the executive branch which is what Waxman is saying?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well my understanding is, Anderson, that they are asserting this in some cases through the vice president's role as the president of the Senate.
He has an office in the capital as well as an office at the West Wing. Can he do it? Of course he can. Can he sustain it? Probably not, because as Suzanne notes in her piece, this is the same vice president who repeatedly, including in several interviews I've conducted with him over the past five or six years, has said that the president and his top advisers, including the vice president, have a right under executive privilege to have private conversations with top advisers or to keep certain things secret that are part of their internal discussion.
So in the past they have argued because he is in the executive branch he has this right. So to argue now it's because he's also the president of the Senate I think would be a very tough political argument and a very questionable legal argument.
COOPER: David, it's in odd position to be in, that he might be ignoring the president's own executive order.
DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: Well, that's right. And it raises the question about whether the President's Counsel Fred Fielding is going to need to tell the vice president's office to comply with the president's order.
I think the argument that the vice president's office is not part of the executive branch, not part of the presidency is absurd on its face.
You know, Article II in the constitution, which is the article about the presidency, makes very clear, you know, it also talks about the vice presidency, and it's always been there. I don't think that will succeed.
But what I think the vice president might do is be able to drag this out in such a way as that many years -- some years could pass before people have access to the vice president's conversations or records or memos regarding the Iraq war.
COOPER: John, does the vice president have the authority to disband this office?
KING: He certainly does not. He can recommend that it be disbanded through the powers of the executive branch, reorganizing government, but I think David is more to the point of what's going on here. I don't think it's a small office within the National Archives. It is much more about a principle Dick Cheney has fought about, going back to his years in Congress, going back to his days in the Ford White House, just after Richard Nixon. It is a privilege he has fought for, for over 30 years now.
And now because of the specific questions, it could come up, memos about the Iraq war, memos about energy policy came up early in the administration. He is holding fast to this position. And Fred Fielding was brought in, in part to resist Congressional demands for more documents from the White House.
So on the one hand, David is exactly right. Fred Fielding might have to look at the vice president and say, sir, you work in the executive branch. But on the other hand, this is why they brought in a tough lawyer with a lot of experience, to fight all this oversight from Congress.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: More now from John King and David Gergen in just a moment.
For some facts about the National Archives, let's check the raw data.
The most requested item from the archives is military service records. Number two, the Declaration of Independence, followed by the Constitution, World War II photos and genealogy information -- I should say genealogical information.
Up next, the race for the White House, your feedback, new numbers, see who may now have the edge.
Plus, love and politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER (voice-over): Rudy's joy. JUDITH GIULIANI, RUDY'S WIFE: I wanted to tell you all a little bit about how Rudy and I came to be our team together.
COOPER: A love scandal that led to marriage. Will voters care? Meet Mrs. Giuliani, one of the running mates.
Also tonight, when fish attack.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Whoa!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep filming!
MATTINGLY: That hurt!
COOPER: Holy carp! The Asian invasion on America's rivers, when 360 continues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER (on camera): The longest day of the year seems like the perfect time to talk about the longest presidential race pretty much ever.
With 17 months to go, Democrats first. A new Mason-Dixon poll of likely caucus goers in Iowa shows that Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama are in a statistical dead heat at 22 percent, 21 percent and 18 percent respectively.
And on the Republican side, Mitt Romney at 25 percent has the clear lead, followed by Fred Thompson at 17 percent, and Rudy Giuliani is at 15 percent.
As we said, it's the longest race ever, but what can we take from these numbers tonight?
Earlier I talked about that with CNN's John King and former Presidential Adviser David Gergen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: John, what has happened to John McCain in Iowa? The latest Iowa poll shows him way behind with only about 6 percent. This previous Iowa poll done, you know, a different polling company, McCain had 25 percent.
KING: Well, his campaign says it's an aberration. And it may well be. Some polls do have wide variances between other polls.
The problem for Senator McCain, though, Anderson, is his campaign is saying the same exact thing about a recent South Carolina poll that shows John McCain dropped from double digits down to 7 percent.
Let's assume for the sake of this argument both of those polls are bad polls. It still affects John McCain. He's having trouble raising money. All of the momentum in the race, the juice in the race is about Senator Fred Thompson or about Rudy Giuliani or about Mitt Romney who is moving in both Iowa and New Hampshire. So even if the numbers are wrong, just the discussion of them is the worst thing John McCain needs, another hurdle.
COOPER: David, do you think -- is -- what do you think it is about John McCain that people are turning off from or is it as John suggests perhaps just attention going elsewhere right now?
GERGEN: I think, Anderson, that obviously his stand on the war as well as his stand on immigration, both of those have caused him unhappiness in different parts of the Republican Party.
But beyond that, he's a very different candidate now. Sadly, tragically, I think his years as a prisoner of war may be catching up with him in terms of his age. He just does not seem to have the vitality he had the last time he ran in 2000.
I think it's tragic because I think he's such a noble figure, but I think the prisoner of war years are maybe taking their toll.
COOPER: The same poll, David, predicts a dead heat for three Democrats, for Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama.
Edwards has invested a lot of resources in Iowa. Is it a must win for him?
GERGEN: It's a must win for him, Anderson. And what's really important about this poll now that's showing Hillary Clinton with a very tiny lead in Iowa is that she's been behind out there, you know, pretty steadily. And if she were able to win Iowa, she could almost put this thing away in Iowa.
You know, the whole effort to stop Hillary Clinton revolves around the idea of John Edwards taking Iowa and perhaps doing very well in New Hampshire or perhaps Barack Obama winning in New Hampshire. If she were to take Iowa, Nevada where she's ahead, and New Hampshire, she's going to be fairly unbeatable.
COOPER: John, I'm sure you saw it. I know David saw it as well. The front page of today's the "Washington Post," a picture of Hillary Clinton and the women who are working on her campaign. They're described as being fiercely loyal.
Is that -- can that be a downside?
KING: Absolutely not, except for some people say they don't listen to others, that they're a cabal, if you will, and they believe that they are a groupthink and that they are smarter than everybody else.
But I've known most of these for a long time and as Patti Solis Doyle, the campaign manager says in the article, they argue amongst themselves. There are some other people who have influence on this group, but they are a very experienced group. They are a very loyal group. It is history in the making because you have so many powerful women in a presidential campaign in which the candidate herself is a woman and they have deep, deep experience. And Anderson, they will do anything for Hillary Clinton.
So is there a potential downside? Sure there is, but there's also a lot of experience there that she trusts and very much values.
COOPER: And David, certainly it is women Democratic voters, women voters who are giving Hillary Clinton a great advantage over Barack Obama.
GERGEN: That's absolutely true, Anderson. And I do think she's built a strong team. They're extremely loyal and they're very talented.
I must tell you that the picture that came out on the front of the "Washington Post" today was almost a "Vanity fair"-like cover. With all -- were called her inner circle, and it's 11 women and no men. And I think that A, first of all, it's historic. You never see a picture like that in politics before, for a leading -- for the frontrunner for the presidency.
But secondly, I had to question the judgment of the campaign to put that picture out. I think it may stir women, but for a lot of men looking at that, they're going to say, wait a minute, these people are going to be running the country? It's -- I'm not sure that's not going to be -- it may even give some men the willies.
I thought that picture was a very questionable political call on the part of the campaign. As talented and as good as those women are, as much credit as Hillary Clinton deserves for building that team, that photo was extremely unusual -- historic, to be sure, but was it -- whether it was wise politically, that's uncertain.
COOPER: What do you think about the call by Mayor Bloomberg of New York? He says he's no longer Republican, he's switched to being an Independent now. What do you think of his chances?
David, let's start with you, his chances?
GERGEN: I think his chances are still very, very ennoble. I think he'll have to make a decision by spring of next year, but right now, by switching parties, you know, he sent a signal of seriousness. He's obviously flirting with it. We'll know a lot better in the next few months.
If both parties elect people or nominate people and voters have buyer's remorse come spring of next year, then he's got a -- he has a much more interesting chance. He could be the strongest third party candidate we've seen since Ross Perot and perhaps since Teddy Roosevelt.
COOPER: Can he win, John? And who does his -- if he does run, who does that hurt the most?
KING: Well, anyone will tell you now, even people close to Mayor Bloomberg, based on everything on the table now, no, he cannot win today, but there's a long way between now and early next year when he has to make the decision.
In the short term, there's a great deal of focus on his relationship with the comparison of the record with Rudy Giuliani. I think that will dominate for now.
But most believe if you have a pro-abortion rights, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control, relatively liberal mayor from New York City get in the race as a serious candidate and spend billions of dollars or hundreds of millions of dollars and he has the money to do it, that it would affect the Democrats the most because he is a liberal, essentially, on the big issues of the day.
He can say he's a balance the budget businessman, but most people believe -- again today -- that he would hurt the Democrats more.
The big calculation for Mike Bloomberg, as David said, will be have enough fracturing happen in the primaries that he think he can really win or if not, does he want to get in just to get in the debates, to make a statement? But if he does that, he might be a spoiler and he'll have to think long and hard about that.
COOPER: John King, David Gergen, guys, thanks.
GERGEN: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It's already a crowded field for the race for '08. We all know that, the Democrats of eight candidates; Republicans, 10. Every single one of them is married. So if you want to know who the candidates are, maybe you should get to know their spouses.
That's what we're doing with a segment we called "Running Mates." And tonight, we're turning the spotlight on Rudy Giuliani's wife.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): Her husband credits her with helping him get through his hardest times -- 9/11, prostate cancer. But Judith Giuliani is arguably the most controversial of the presidential candidates' wives.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's a -- she's a good friend, a very good friend.
COOPER: That was May of 2000, when the mayor was still married to TV Personality Donna Hanover. A few days later, he announced his marriage to Hanover was over and the gossip began in earnest.
LLOYD GROVE, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: It was a complete surprise, I think, to Donna Hanover when he started taking up with then Judith Nathan.
COOPER: Lloyd Grove covered the city hall scandal and just wrote a profile of Judith Giuliani for "New York" magazine. GROVE: Rudy kind of announced it on television and then it was a huge story in the tabloids and a huge soap opera in New York and beyond.
COOPER: Even "People" magazine ran a cover story on the mayor's marital woes. And it wouldn't be the last time Judith Giuliani, then Judith Nathan, would be fodder for the tabloids, not the welcome a small town girl might want.
She was born Judith Stisch (ph) in a Pennsylvania mining town 1954. She worked as a nurse and married a medical supply salesman, a marriage she never mentioned publicly.
GROVE: It wasn't that she claimed that she'd only been married once before, but she sort of let it stay uncorrected. So she just sort of let people assume that that was the case, and then it just reared up eventually.
COOPER: Five days after her divorce, she married Bruce Nathan, a wealthy businessman, and they adopted a daughter. That marriage ended in 1992.
JUDITH GIULIANI, RUDY'S WIFE: I wanted to tell you all a little bit about how Rudy and I came to be our team together.
COOPER: This March, Judith Giuliani caused another controversy when she introduced her husband at a Manhattan fundraiser with anecdotes about when they first met without mentioning that the mayor was married at the time.
And then another revelation, that Rudy's two children, said to be estranged from their father, wouldn't hit the campaign trail for their dad. His son Andrew was quoted as saying he has a little problem with his stepmother. Not the best news for a candidate.
GROVE: For a presidential candidate to be estranged from his children is problematic, and very troublesome. And Republican consultants I've talked to about this said that, you know, if Rudy is serious about wanting the Republican nomination, he's got to repair those relationships with his kids.
J. GIULIANI: I have just recently begun -- I think they call it in the political world, being rolled out.
COOPER: Giuliani says he relies on her completely, even hiring her as a campaign consultant. And in her first national television interview with Barbara Walters on "20/20" in March, Judith Giuliani held hands with her husband and the two did their best to set the record straight on the hidden husband.
BARBARA WALTERS, HOST, "20/20": So it wasn't that you were keeping it hidden, it's that nobody brought it up?
J. GIULIANI: That's correct.
COOPER: On being the other woman. WALTERS: Did it bother you that the mayor was married?
J. GIULIANI: It -- it was a rocky road, absolutely.
COOPER: On problems with the kids.
R. GIULIANI: She's done everything she can. She loves all the children.
COOPER: And on her husband's candidacy.
J. GIULIANI: Rudy would be the best president of the United States.
COOPER: We'll have to wait to see if the voters can set aside the gossip and give her husband their votes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (on camera): Well, it's not a top issue for the presidential candidates, but it's a big one for kids across the country -- the threat of bullies. Just ahead, how one teenager overcame her bully problem in a rather unusual way.
And speaking of bullies, well, take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That's right. Our own David Mattingly getting roughed up by some fish, next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: If you're looking for a fight, take a trip along the Illinois River or the Mississippi, but be warned, your opponent is tough, relentless and slippery. Call it the attack of the Asian carp. These foreign invaders are doing a number on our ecosystem.
It's a pretty amazing video. We first aired it last night. It is definitely worth another look.
Here is CNN's David Mattingly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Fishermen talk about days like this.
Big fish so easy to catch, they jump right into the boat. But this is one fish story with a very serious turn.
These leaping fish are part of an invasion, an ecological disaster on the move. (on camera): The fish are Asian carp and they have been ruining lakes and streams everywhere they go. We are going to one of those areas right now and we have been warned, keep your head down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard to believe until you're out here actually experiencing it.
MATTINGLY: Aquatic Ecologists for the state of Illinois guide us on a journey up the Illinois River, a trip they say that grows riskier each year for boaters and jet skiers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bruises and broken noses and black eyes and being knocked out. Those are the type of injuries we are seeing from these fish.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): But local fishing economies could take the biggest hit of all. Several Asian carp species were introduced to U.S. catfish farms in the 70s to eat algae in local ponds. They have since escaped into the Mississippi River system and become so prolific that they threaten to gulp down the food native fish need to survive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've invaded some of the most productive ecosystems so far.
MATITNGLY: Today everywhere we see one carp leaping, irritated by our boat noise, there could be thousands more.
Watch what happens when these devices deliver a small electric shock to the water.
MATTINGLY (on camera): Holy cow! Whoa! Man! We've got a boat full of fish. Whoa!
When these fish were small, people thought this was funny, but now that they are 10 and 20 pounds, they can hit you and really do some serious harm.
(voice-over): And just a few seconds later, I find out the hard way. Ouch! That hurt!
Let's look at that from a different angle. A 10-pound carp leaps out of the water from the far side of the boat and hits me hard from more than eight feet away.
(on camera): That's going to leave a mark.
And that wouldn't be the only one.
Imagine what that would do to a fast moving jet skier.
(voice-over): But these fish collisions are only the most obvious signs of a far reaching problem. As the invaders continue their march north, the commercial fishing industry on Lake Michigan could be the next big target.
An electrical barrier under development is the lake's only defense from fish that grow bigger and more plentiful every day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now this here's a big block big head (ph).
MATTINGLY: There is a small but growing consumer market for the Asian carp, but so far there hasn't been enough of an appetite to keep their numbers under control.
Biologists can see the Asian carp are here to stay. Everyone on the river, beware.
David Mattingly, CNN, Havana, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Amazing. Just ahead, one teenager fights a bully with the help of thousands. We'll tell you how she did it.
Plus, 911 tapes from that deadly fire in Charleston, South Carolina. Hear for the first time what happened as firefighters battled the flames, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Nine firefighters died in that horrific fire at a South Carolina furniture store three nights ago, the deadliest fire tragedy since 9/11.
Tomorrow, thousands of firefighters from across the country are expected to attend a memorial service in Charleston.
Today, the city released the recordings of 911 calls to police on that deadly night. And the calls you are about to hear describe the desperate search for a store employee trapped inside. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DISPATCHER: Units be advised we have someone on the floor trapped SUPERSTORE.
DISPATCHER: Please send more to the back.
OFFICER: You have him on the phone.
DISPATCHER: Affirmative, affirmative we got him still on the phone, no one has gotten to him yet.
OFFICER: Whereabouts at the back of the building?
DISPATCHER: OK, he's beating on the wall with a hammer to try to get someone's attention.
DISPATCHER: We lost connection with the subject in the back of the store.
OFFICER: All the firemen are advised and they are working on it trying to get in there now. Control be advised a fireman just came around and told me they got one guy out and they were going back for another.
DISPATCHER: Copy, one still inside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, minutes later, the roof of the store collapsed.
Firefighters, of course, risk their lives all the time protecting others and the people they save are almost always strangers. They are heroes in the true sense of the word.
If you've ever doubted you could do anything as dramatic as save a life, you need to watch this next story about a young girl's nightmare and the strangers who stepped in.
Here's CNN's Dan Simon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OLIVIA GARDNER, STUDENT: So they thought it was like funny.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even now it hurts to talk about it.
So what'd they do?
GARDNER: They called me retard girl. They'd shove me in mud puddles and jag my backpack through.
SIMON: 14-year-old Olivia Gardner has epilepsy and that made her the target of bullies. It started in the sixth grade at her middle school outside of San Francisco.
KATHLEEN GARDNER, OLIVIA'S MOTHER: She was being harassed so much that it got to the point she was hiding in the bathrooms between classes, up on the toilet so that the bullies couldn't find her.
SIMON: Olivia's mother says even talking to teachers and administrators didn't help.
K. GARDNER: This was typical middle school behavior, same quote I keep hearing over and over again.
SIMON (on camera): Olivia changed schools, but the bullying continued. You see some of the new students were friends with the old ones and within a week, they started making fun of her, too. Someone even created a MySpace page, an "I Hate Olivia" club online.
O. GARDNER: Sometimes I'd feel like, what's wrong with me? Like, all the other kids get along, but they don't get along with me.
SIMON (voice-over): Another school followed. The third in two years. The same result. Olivia says she contemplated suicide. Her mother then decided she would home school. But this past March, things changed. Emily and Sarah Buder had never met Olivia. But when they read about her in a local newspaper, well, they felt compelled to act.
(on camera): What was it about her story that really touched you?
EMILY BUDER, STUDENT: Olivia really hadn't done anything to deserve what had come to her.
SIMON (voice-over): So the sisters wrote to her and encouraged their friends to do the same.
O. GARDNER: Even if people make fun of you, don't take it personally. They bully you just because they're bored with their own lives.
SIMON: As word spread, the letters increased. Dozens became hundreds, hundreds became thousands. People from all over the world, from kids to grandparents, sent their support.
SARA BUDER, STUDENT: It made me feel really good to know that there are so many like good genuine people in the world.
E. BUDER: And it did show us how pervasive bullying is and what an impact it has on people for the rest of their lives.
SIMON: It had the desired effect. Her mom says she watched Olivia come back to life.
K. GARDNER: To see that people actually cared. I mean, I can't talk about it without starting to cry, because it changed our lives.
O. GARDNER: For every mean person, there's 100 nice people, and that's really true. It doesn't seem like it when you're being bullied, but it's true.
SIMON: Olivia says the bullies will leave a lasting impact, but the kindness of two sisters will have a greater one.
Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: man, what a great story. How -- reminds us all how tough it is to be a kid.
Just ahead, our CNN hero, a man who helps 2,000 children every week. See how he does it.
Plus, a new report card is out on some of the companies we all give money to for entertainment and food. It may change what you think you may know about them, next on 360.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: We're keeping big companies honest tonight. Major corporations have congratulated themselves in commercials and elsewhere about being eco-friendly in their products and policies.
Well, we put their self-praise to the test. CNN's Miles O'Brien shows us why the facts get a little cloudy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a long way from health food. We all know that, but chew on this -- your choice between a Whopper and a Big Mac may have an impact on the health of the planet. It's true. It's just one small McNugget. In a hot off the griddle global warming report card on 56 companies you know well.
GARY HIRSHBERG, CEO, STONYFIELD FARM: If Corporate America doesn't take responsibility for the climate crisis, then we're not going to get anywhere.
O'BRIEN: That's Gary Hirshberg, founder of famously deep green yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm. He is spearheading a new non-profit called "Climate Counts" that scores companies on global warming. Are they working to measure and reduce their carbon footprint? Or do they oppose laws to address the problem? And do they let the world know what they're doing?
Overall, it's not a pretty picture. The average? Thirty out of 100, a big fat F. And 16 of the companies scored miserably, below 10 points. Among them, Levi Strauss, Amazon, and Apple. Apple? Who would have thunk it?
HIRSHBERG: Mr. Jobs and many of the companies who are under 10 points have clearly not made climate a priority.
O'BRIEN: Maybe now he will if his iPhone starts fills up with e- mail from angry customers who assumed his apple was green.
If you want a greener computer company, look, of all places, to Big Blue. IBM got a 70. And on top of the list overall, Cannon, with a 77, a C.
Stonyfield Farm only got a 63.
HIRSHBERG: If my children came home with those scores, they'd be grounded for a week.
O'BRIEN: But will a report card like this change the way companies do business?
MARK BROWNSTEIN, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE: Report cards can be a very effective tool. There's no question that when you affect consumer behavior, you ultimately affect corporate behavior.
O'BRIEN: And the consumers we spoke with want to know more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I have the opportunity to be informed, I certainly will take the environmentally friendly avenue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to find out those products because a lot of companies won't advertise or tell you how they dispose of their products or what they do to test their product.
O'BRIEN (on camera): So that still leaves the question, which burger should you buy? Well, as it turns out, Burger King got a zero, a goose egg on the subject of global warming. McDonald's got a 22. Not exactly honor roll status, but relatively speaking, something to relish.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Top rated Cannon told CNN that sustainability has been part of their corporate culture for a long time. And companies that did not fare as well, Burger King said, and I quote, "We're striving to reduce our usage of electrical energy by installing newer, more efficient equipment in our restaurants."
And a Levi Strauss spokesman told CNN, "We need to do more, and make it easier for our consumers to find."
CNN did not get a response from Apple or Amazon.
Just ahead, how one man is able to help 2,000 kids in need every week. He is tonight's CNN hero.
Plus, the latest on the search for a missing pregnant woman in Ohio, when 360 continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: All this year on CNN we're bringing you some stories of remarkable people, people dedicating their lives to improving the lives of others. We call them CNN Heroes.
Tonight we take to you South Africa where one man is helping make the promise of freedom and equality a reality for children. Bob Nameng is tonight's CNN hero.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB NAMENG, CNN HERO: When I look at children, I see them like flowers, flowers that have got the right to blossom. These kids don't find these conditions that they find themselves in in Kliptown.
No proper infrastructure, no good sanitation, no school, no facilities around.
(BEGIN GRAPHIC)
Kliptown, Soweto was a focal point for protest against apartheid in South Africa.
Today, the area is riddled with poverty and crime.
(END GRAPHIC)
NAMENG: We come from very difficult times, apartheid times.
Three thousand people came together in 1955 in Kliptown, which led now to the adoption of the freedom charter, which forms the constitution of South Africa.
For me it's a contradiction because there are all of those things that are written there, I don't see any of them happening in our community.
Young people are bored hanging around, doing nothing. Nobody's talking to these kids. Nobody's telling them how special they are. Nobody's trying to say to them, let your little light shine.
My name is Bob Nameng and I'm a founder of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Kliptown Youth Foundation.
There's a feeding program where we give our kids meals -- three meals a day.
There's educational programs, where kids are being given access to computer, library, where kids are learning.
These will improve our vocabulary. So that's good.
What we're doing is community work to help and make a difference in our own community.
I'm a ghetto child. I know life in the ghetto.
Children live what they see. So if we live a positive life, then we're setting a good example to our children.
(BEGIN GRAPHIC)
Bob's program offers assistance to approximately 2,000 children very week... for free.
(END GRAPHIC)
NAMENG: If people can know that they own this community, lots of things can start moving in a positive way. I believe one day things are going to be OK. Because after darkness, there is light.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: If you'd like to learn more about Bob Nameng's organization or to make a contribution, you'll find all of the information you need at CNN.com/hero.
Still ahead, a massive search for a missing pregnant woman. Erica Hill has the latest and a look at the headlines when 360 continues. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: A quick late note out of Washington, the Senate moments ago passed an energy bill that would raise gas mileage standards for cars and trucks, but will not impose a new tax on big oil companies. The House weighs in next.
Right now, Erica Hill with a 360 bulletin.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, it has really been a brutal couple of days for U.S. troops in Baghdad. Roadside bombs and other attacks in the Iraqi capital have killed 10 American soldiers and two Marines. The deadliest attack happening in northeastern Baghdad today when a roadside bomb killed five soldiers, three Iraqi civilians and an interpreter.
In North Canton, Ohio, a huge turnout of volunteers in the search for a missing pregnant woman today some 1,800 people joining in the hunt for Jessie Davis, the largest number since she disappeared last week. Still no word on whether any evidence was found. Investigators have not yet named any suspects.
Up in space, the wait continues. Twice today because of bad weather, NASA had to scrub the landing of its space shuttle Atlantis, but they're going to try again tomorrow. Atlantis is wrapping up a 13-day mission to the International Space Station where it installed a huge solar array.
And back on earth, Paris Hilton apparently getting some writing done from her jail cell. The Web site E-Online, reporting that Hilton made her own Father's Day card to her dad, Rick. And now she's writing for the thousands of fans who have been sending messages to her since she went back to the slammer. In one letter obtained by the Web site, Paris says she's quote, "trying to make the best out of the situation" and she thanks the fan for the support, saying may God bless you and your family -- Anderson.
COOPER: Very touching.
HILL: If you need a moment, feel free.
COOPER: Yes. Who would waste a moment of their lives writing to this person in prison?
HILL: Or 41 cents. I mean, stamps are more expensive now, too. Come on.
COOPER: Oh, goodness.
And NBC is going to be paying her a million bucks.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: How about that?
COOPER: Unbelievable. HILL: I'm appalled. I'm not going to lie.
COOPER: I mean -- and -- and Meredith Vieira is going to do the interview.
HILL: A million dollars?
COOPER: So basically, you get rewarded for driving drunk and going to jail.
HILL: I think that's the lesson that we're taking away here, yes. You get paid a million bucks and it probably won't stop there because wasn't she originally supposed to be writing about her experience from behind bars?
COOPER: Yes. Writing. I'm sure she's going to write a book.
HILL: Well, she did write a letter. A start.
COOPER: Yes, it's a start.
HILL: She could...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Remember, what's her name -- Nicole Ritchie -- she wrote a novel.
HILL: She wrote it all by herself.
COOPER: It was a novel that had actually pictures of herself inserted in the middle of it. It did. In various costumes. In a novel.
HILL: I'm so sorry I missed it.
COOPER: Oh, yes. No, it was very good.
HILL: Yes.
COOPER: OK. Thanks, Erica.
HILL: OK. Bye-bye.
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