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Iran's President to Speak at Columbia University; United Auto Workers/GM Strike; Youssif's Surgery
Aired September 24, 2007 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J., CNN ANCHOR: Well, you are with CNN. You are informed.
And I am T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon, everybody.
I'm Betty Nguyen.
Tony and Heidi are off today.
We have some developments that are going to be keeping you in the NEWSROOM on this Monday, the 24th of September.
Here's what's on the rundown.
Iran's outspoken president stirring protests in the Ivy League. His address and Q&A with Columbia students, that is going to be happening shortly.
HOLMES: Also, auto workers set to walk out on GM this hour. Nine days of overtime talks and still no new contract.
NGUYEN: Also, threatening phone calls. Then a young Chicago woman just simply vanishes.
I'm going to talk with her sister live in the NEWSROOM.
HOLMES: Well, he's speaking to the American people today. Angry protesters got a response. Iran's president takes the spotlight with a speech at Columbia University in a couple of hours.
CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is in New York.
And anything happening just yet out there, Allan?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Well, the students are already lined up. In fact, they started lining up at 8:30 Eastern Time this morning. Right now, a block behind us there are more than 100 students who will begin heading into the auditorium, even though that speech isn't scheduled to begin for another two and a half hours. As you can imagine, very tight security.
I spoke with a bunch of students online. And all of them said to me that they are very much in favor of having the Iranian president here speaking to Columbia University. But of course, there are many students here who are not in favor. And we're joined by one of them right now. She is Jamie D'Amico.
And Jamie, tell me, what's your opposition? Why do you feel that we should not have Ahmadinejad here?
JAMIE D'AMICO, BARNARD UNIVERSITY JUNIOR: Well, a lot of people have been talking about freedom of the press -- and freedom of speech and how it's important for a different view to be express expressed. However, I feel that Columbia University certainly had a right to invite this president to come and speak. However, I don't necessarily think that was the right thing to do.
CHERNOFF: Won't it be a learning experience for the students who at least will be in there, have the opportunity to challenge him?
D'AMICO: Well, first of all, I don't really know how effective challenging this man is going to be, because he seems to be quite set in his views. Also, the university has been talking about this as a learning experience, but they refused to canceled classes for the day, and only 600 students are actually -- or 600 people can fit in the auditorium.
So they really are not giving us an opportunity to learn from this experience. If that's truly the reason behind inviting him here.
CHERNOFF: Well, hopefully some at least will learn something here.
The dean of the School of International and Public Affairs, which is the school sponsoring this lecture series, we spoke with him earlier. Let's have a listen to what he said about all of this controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: By inviting him here, do you not bestow some honor on the president of Iran?
JOHN COATSWORTH, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SIPA DEAN: No, not at all. What we do is we bestow on him a classroom full of people that want to challenge his views. That's what we're about.
CHERNOFF: Pure challenge here.
COATSWORTH: Well, he'll be asked all kinds of questions, tough questions. His views will be challenged and he will have to answer the questions, as he has agreed to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Let's see how it all works out. It's supposed to be split between 30, 35 minutes of speech, and about that same amount of time for questions and answers.
The president of Columbia University is saying having the president of Iran here represents America at its very best -- T.J. HOLMES: All right. And Allan, remind folks why he's there in the first place. How did this speech even come about?
CHERNOFF: It actually goes all the way back to last year, when the dean of the School of International and Public Affairs was at the United Nations, met the president, and invited him to come here. But that was with only three days' advance notice. Columbia says they could not arrange the proper security.
So this year, the Iranian mission approached one of the professors here and said, are you folks interested in, once again, inviting the president of Iran? The school agreed and it was all set up. And believe me, there is plenty of security this time around -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Allan Chernoff for us on the scene there.
Allan, we appreciate you.
And you can hear the Iranian president's address at Columbia University today beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern here in the CNN NEWSROOM. And if you can't be in front of a television, you can watch it online, the entire speech, streaming live for free on CNN.com.
NGUYEN: Well, we do have some developing news to tell you about. The United Auto Workers Union has set an 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time deadline for a strike involving GM workers. The time has come, and right now it's 11:04. And we want to get the latest on whether this strike has indeed occurred.
Let's take you now to Ali Velshi, who has been watching it.
Hey there, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Betty. Here's what's going on.
At 1:00 in the morning, the United Auto Workers sent an e-mail to its membership and put out a press release to say as of 11:00 a.m. this morning Eastern Time, if there isn't a deal, walk off the job, or you should be prepared to strike. So the locals started preparing for the strike.
As of 11:00 a.m., there was no announcement from General Motors or the United Auto Workers. We have not been able to get responses from them other than to find out that they are still at the negotiating table. But as you can see, this is video that's coming in from one of our affiliates in Warren, Michigan, where there is an engine plant, and you can see pickets there.
Pickets have gone up at some plants across the United States. Now, we are trying to find out exactly where those pickets are up and whether the people picketing are actually setting up picket lines that can't be crossed and whether or not people are actually leaving their shifts in order to join this picket. For now, we cannot confirm from the United Auto Workers that a strike is under way, but we do know that pickets have started to go up at General Motors plants because workers have been told that as of 11:00, if they don't have contrary information, the locals were told that if your union on a local basis or national basis has not told you that there isn't a strike, then there -- you should understand that there is a strike.
So we are trying to get this information. We were fully expecting to hear from General Motors or the United Auto Workers by now. That time has come and gone. So we're going to find out whether there is a strike under way or whether they're just pushing forward in order to get a deal, Betty.
We don't know that information yet.
NGUYEN: Well, Ali, looking at the pictures that are coming in, it clearly seems like the pickets, as you said, were up. And according to those signs, it says "UAW On Strike".
VELSHI: It says "On Strike". Now the thing is, here's two things.
You can get on to a picket shift. In other words, they could have had shifts ready of people who were not on the job. So they have not walked off the job to go on strike. It could be people who weren't there.
There is sort of a difference between whether or not these guys are saber rattling or whether they are actually going to down tools -- 73,000 to 80,000 American GM workers are going do down tools, close the factories and walk off the job. That will be a very different story.
And we're going to probably find that out within the next half an hour or so, whether this is just them out there saying the time has come and gone and we're on strike or whether in fact there is actually a strike of General Motors going on. So we're going to figure that out.
But you're right, you are looking at the same pictures I am.
NGUYEN: Yes.
VELSHI: Those are guys out there with pickets saying they're on strike.
NGUYEN: Yes, and you can't really tell if these folks are leaving the plant just for a shift change...
VELSHI: Right.
NGUYEN: ... or if it's because they have indeed walked out.
But you know, Ali, on Sunday, talks were reportedly making progress. But yet, the union leadership did feel a need to call for a strike deadline.
Do you know what the exact sticking points are?
VELSHI: Yes. Yes. And this is what it is. The deadline actually expired 10 days ago and they were giving GM an hour-by-hour extension until otherwise informed.
Last night, they said it's over at 11:00. Now, these are General Motors union plants across the United States. There are two sticking points.
One is, right now, there are a lot of retirees and there is a question about who pays the benefits. There is an increasing number of retirees per GM worker.
The other issue is job security. These union workers have said we have taken it in the neck every time you guys have had to have a cut or a pay cut or a benefits cut, now we want a piece of the action. And if we're not getting better job security, you don't have a deal.
Remember, Betty, that the stakes are big here because the union only negotiates with one automaker first, and then they try and duplicate that contract with Ford and Chrysler. So they need to get what they want out of this. But the auto industry in Detroit doesn't need a strike right now. It's still ailing.
NGUYEN: And we're looking at possibly, what, 73,000 people who could walk off the job if this indeed is a strike?
VELSHI: Absolutely. This would be the first time since 1998 that General Motors, United Auto Workers has struck.
Again, this is not the sort of thing we were expecting to happen. The indications that you referred to were that they were coming to a deal, or there was going to be a deal. Up until moments ago there was still speculation that there would be a deal.
Now, you can see there's police cars over there in Warren, Michigan. This is a fairly substantial plant for General Motors.
So this could just be a delay or this could be they weren't able to hammer out a deal before 11:00 a.m. A long strike would be very difficult for General Motors which, until this year, has been the biggest carmaker in the world.
A short strike, maybe they can handle. But no strike would be the preferred thing for most union workers and the auto companies.
NGUYEN: And this is not something that has just happened within just a matter of hours. I mean, they have been in marathon negotiations for what, about 20 days now, Ali?
VELSHI: That's right. That's right. And the deadline was 10 days ago. But in the spirit of things working out, it seemed to be that the United Auto Workers had said we will extend the deadline.
Now, here's how it worked.
Until last night, the deadline was assumed to be extended for another hour every time it got passed. But there was no end to it. Then at 1:40 in the morning, the United Auto Workers says 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time is our cutoff.
Ford and Chrysler, who are not in negotiations right now, have to be given a three-day formal notice period if workers are going to strike those companies. So this is the kind of thing that once it starts unrolling could become very serious. It could, in fact, be more than those 73,000 workers if the United Auto Workers feels that they are not getting a fair shake from the company.
Except, Betty, think about the last few years. How many times have you and I been on TV where we've covered layoffs in the tens of thousands? The unions are very weakened right now.
NGUYEN: I remember working in the Dallas market, and there is a big plant there in Arlington, Texas. And every time there is a strike talk, we were out there talking with union leaders and trying to find out, when are they going to come to a resolution on a possible strike and what's going to be worked out when it comes to those union workers.
But let me ask you this, Ali. As we're watching this and word is coming in that looking at these picket lines, it appears that a strike is under way, what does this mean for production?
VELSHI: Well, the car companies in America -- I guess this is good news/bad news story. The good news/bad news is that they've actually got a lot of inventory on hand. So a short strike, maybe even up to a week, would -- wouldn't necessarily flow all the way to the dealers in most cases. There will still be cars available, there will be cars that are backlogged, unless those cars are behind picket lines.
There is some sense that GM could very easily weather a strike of under a week. Once it goes beyond that, then you start having bigger problems, because then you actually affect backlogs and production.
You know, and this industry has been cut to the bone. They are trying not to have a lot of excess fat and excess workers in the whole mix.
So this could be -- you know, Detroit can't handle another big hit. Property values are down. Their confidence in Detroit and the automakers is down.
They've tried to turn it around. We've seen profits from a couple of the automakers this year. This is not something that the automakers can afford to deal with.
And I am just looking at some of the word that's coming in to me. We've got confirmation that there are picket signs now in St. Louis. We've got picket signs in Lake Orion, Michigan. We've got picket signs in Warren, Michigan. So, in the absence of hearing from the union, the locals have done what they were told last night at 1:40 a.m. They are picketing General Motors plants across the country -- Betty.
HOLMES: And Ali, can you tell us -- you talked about Ford and Chrysler. They would have to get a three-day notice at least if a strike was possible at those companies as well. What are the chances that the union would go ahead and strike at those places as well, and can Ford and Chrysler decide to go through some negotiations and satisfy the unions and avoid a strike on their end?
VELSHI: Well, here's the thing -- General Motors is definitely the strongest of the three automakers at the moment. It's the one that could most afford a strike for a couple of days or a week.
Ford and is Chrysler are in tough, tough positions right now. So they must be sitting around saying, wow. I mean, I don't know if the phone calls are going on between the headquarters saying, do what you've got to do to get a deal here.
Again, this is a very tough situation. We've talked about how much trouble the automakers are in. The union is not in a strong position and hasn't been for a long time.
So I think everybody on all sides of this are probably trying to say, what's the best deal we can get without backing down too much? I think the think unions, in fairness to them, have taken a lot of concessions and job losses over the last several years. Their grievances are sound.
But these American companies have not been able to be profitable under the structures that they've got because they've got all of these retired auto workers for whom they are paying pensions and health benefits. And that's where GM, Ford and Chrysler are saddled with expenses that Honda and Toyota aren't.
And that affects -- General Motors says that it adds $1,500 to the price of every car it manufactures. That $1,500 either is in price or in fittings or in better equipment.
So there is a big problem here, and a strike is not going to be good for American business. Or perhaps for the union right now.
NGUYEN: Well, Ali, no doubt this is going to take effect on the markets as well. I'm sure they're going to be reacting.
VELSHI: I'm just getting this in, Betty. We've actually got confirmation from one United Auto Workers Union at least that he is walking off the job.
NGUYEN: OK.
VELSHI: So it may be that there are others. They are now, according to the union, in a strike position. So this could become a lot more serious as the day goes on.
NGUYEN: Well, absolutely. And we're going to continue to follow it throughout the day as well.
Ali, thank you for bringing us up to speed on what you know regarding this strike.
And folks, as you've heard it here, and looking at video, it does appear that the United Auto Workers Union has gone on strike. Especially there at the GM plants.
We're going to get much more on this story, so you'll want to stay tuned for that.
Also, threatening phone calls, a vague text message, and an abandoned car, clues in the strange disappearance of a Chicago woman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do believe she is in distress of some sort, because she's just not the kind of person who would just leave without a trace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: A missing woman's sister joins us live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Arwa Damon in Los Angeles, where 5-year-old Youssif, an Iraqi boy who was savagely set on fire in Baghdad, is under going his second surgery.
We'll have that story coming up.
HOLMES: Screening is critical in the fight against prostate cancer, but can diet also make a difference?
We'll be taking a look. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, it does appear that members of the United Auto Workers Union are off the job at GM plants across the country. We're looking at some Michigan video right now.
As you can see, the picket signs are up. It appears talks have broken down between the union and GM. There was a strike deadline at 11:00 Eastern. We are now at 11:18, and the picket signs are already up.
Ali Velshi has been joining us throughout the morning looking into this story and he has got the latest information.
Ali, we just keep getting e-mails in, as well as I-Reports, saying that more people continue to walk off the job.
VELSHI: They're on strike at this point. Union leaders in Michigan are saying they are on strike. We have confirmation from at least two plants in Michigan, Warren, Michigan, which is the one you were just looking at, Lake Orion, Michigan -- that's an assembly plant. They're walking off the job. St. Louis, they're seeing picket signs in St. Louis.
So we do know that General Motors unionized workers in various parts of the country are walking off the job. There are a total of 73,000 of them. They obviously operate in separate shifts.
What we are looking at here and what we're not able to confirm is, have workers walked off the job who have joined these picket, or were these picket lines ready to go with workers who were not on shift at 11:00? As each moment ticks by, it begins to make less -- it doesn't matter as much because we do know that workers are walking off the job.
The 11:00 a.m. Eastern deadline has come and gone without word from the United Auto Workers or General Motors, which suggests to me that they are either not coming to a deal and trying to work one out, or they are trying to work out a deal.
Now, what we are getting here, CNN has now just confirmed workers at 59 General Motors plants have walked off the job or are in the process of walking off the job, Betty. Fifty-nine General Motors plants are now on strike.
This is the first strike against General Motors since 1998. This is a very big deal, as you said. Twenty days of marathon negotiations, 10 days after the negotiation deadline ended. Most people were expecting a deal at 11:00 Eastern this morning, Betty. United Auto Workers is now on strike against General Motors.
NGUYEN: And we'll be talking a lot more about this throughout the day, Ali. We're going to let you go and get some more information right now.
VELSHI: I'll bring it to you as soon as I've got it.
NGUYEN: But in the meantime -- yes, we do appreciate that.
But in other news -- T.J.
HOLMES: Yes. Let's talk about Youssif here.
Of course he's 5 years old. We've been talking about this little boy for quite some time now. And he's got a lot that he's going through in life and has a lot much more to go through.
He was doused with gas, burned and disfigured in Iraq. Now he's in the U.S. undergoing a second surgery today, surgery that was made possible by you, our viewers.
And our Arwa Damon is with Youssif's family in Sherman Oaks. She's been with this family for so much of their ordeal.
Arwa, what is he looking forward to -- or not necessarily looking forward to, if you will, but I guess what does he have ahead for him today? DAMON: Well, T.J., the process, the surgery that he's undergoing today is very intense and intricate. But let's go back to Thursday.
What they did in Thursday's surgery, amongst many procedures, was to remove that thick scarring that basically ran from the top of Yousiff's nose all the way down to his mouth. On Thursday, they replaced it with temporary cadaver skin, a biological Band-Aid, if you will.
What they are doing today is taking a full skin graft from his own stomach and then carefully, delicately tailoring that to fit the scar tissue that used to be along his nose. This is a fascinating process to be watching, to be completely honest, because it is so delicate.
The skin is placed and then carefully cut, tailored, carefully sutured into place. This is one of many surgeries that Youssif will be undergoing eventually.
Today though, I have to say that he was much braver going into the operating room than he was on Thursday. He wasn't fighting the doctors, he wasn't screaming for his parents. Really, this little 5- year-old child putting on such a brave face -- T.J.
HOLMES: Such a brave, brave face.
Arwa Damon, we appreciate all you've been bringing to us, reporting for us on this story. We are going to see a lot more of Youssif. I hope things go well for him again today.
Arwa Damon, thank you so much.
NGUYEN: A distraught family, a stepped-up search, and new clues in the disappearance of 28-year-old Nailah Franklin. The Chicago woman was last heard from on Tuesday. Her car found over the weekend in Hammond, Indiana.
Franklin is a pharmaceutical sales representative, and shortly before her disappearance she filed a police report about threatening phone calls from a man she once dated.
With me now from Chicago is Franklin's very worried sister, Lehia Franklin Acox.
We appreciate your time. I know that you've been through a lot. In fact, we spoke with you yesterday. Have there been any new developments in this case?
LEHIA FRANKLIN ACOX, MISSING WOMAN'S SISTER: We know that the Chicago Police Department is continuing to work through all of the leads that are continuing to come in, as well as processing all of the information that I'm sure they gathered from Nailah's car and getting those personal effects that they found over the weekend. So it's been a challenge, but we keep hope and we keep the faith, because even though we have no new information to report at this point, we are really hopeful that police will find Nailah alive. NGUYEN: Well, Lehia, that car was found in Hammond, Indiana. She had some personal belongings that were found nearby at a lake, not inside but around that area. Is she known -- is Nailah known to travel to Hammond?
ACOX: No. I actually was curious that it was -- that things were found there. But -- because as far as I know, that's not part of her sales territory. She doesn't have family and friends in that area.
So I don't know why Nailah herself would be there. And it was curious that her things were found there, but, you know, I was happy that they were found, wherever they were found, because it gives some clues for the investigators to pick up on.
NGUYEN: Yes, hopefully just be one step closer to finding her.
ACOX: Yes. Yes.
NGUYEN: Let's go back to Tuesday when she sent that last text message. And essentially all she said was, I'm at dinner, I'll call you later.
Do you know who she was having dinner with?
ACOX: We don't know that, but I heard from the three individuals who got that text message, the first being her boss, the second being the person she's dating right now, and the third being her youngest sister. And what was really curious about the text message and the fact -- it was the fact that nobody heard from her after that. Especially her boss.
She and her boss were two have an important meeting, and he was supposed to be riding around her territory with her on Wednesday. And when he didn't hear from her and she didn't show up for that meeting, he called me on Wednesday, and that's when we knew something was definitely wrong.
NGUYEN: Well, isn't it also curious that you still don't know who she was having dinner with? Because there has been a lot of media reports surrounding her disappearance and talking about those text message, yet a person hasn't come forward to say, you know what? It was me, we were having dinner, and this is what happened.
ACOX: Yes. And I -- it's hard -- because of course you have your own ideas and thoughts and theories...
NGUYEN: Well, what are they?
ACOX: And I don't like to speculate. But, you know, I'm not, again -- given that those messages came from her phone, I'm not -- I don't know that they came from her.
NGUYEN: Oh.
ACOX: So we don't know about a dinner. So we just know that those messages said that she was at dinner and would call those three folks back.
So it's -- you know, we're all very much on pins and needles and waiting, but we very much have faith that the Chicago Police Department, who has -- they have a lot of detectives working on this. We know that they'll get -- they'll crack this and get to the bottom of it and get Nailah home with us. But, yes, we are all very curious as to, you know, what was going on Tuesday evening, because that was the last...
NGUYEN: Right. What do you know about the person that she was reported sending her threatening messages? This could be a clue into her disappearance.
ACOX: Certainly. And I believe that, you know, everybody's taking that seriously. And I know that the detectives have taken that seriously.
But I personally do not know very much about that. I did not know that Nailah had filed this report until Wednesday when I reported her missing. So it's frustrating to not know more than I know, but that's where -- that's -- I was not aware that she was feeling threatened.
NGUYEN: Well, what does your gut feeling tell you about what has happened?
ACOX: My gut is that my sister is alive, she's in distress, and needs us to locate her so that we can help her come home. That's my gut feeling, because I know that Nailah is a really vibrant person, a very strong personality.
She loves her job. She loves her friends and her family. She loves the condo she just decorated.
There is no way -- no way at all my sister would just disappear without a trace and not talking to anyone. So I feel in my heart she's in distress, but I do feel that she is alive.
And we just are so appreciative of a forum like this to get the word out, get her picture out, and get the Chicago police phone number out so people can, if they've heard something, if they saw something, if someone they know heard or saw something, they can contact Chicago police.
NGUYEN: Well, best of luck in the search. We're all pulling for you. And we're going to stay on top of this story as well.
ACOX: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Lehia Franklin Acox, we appreciate your time today. Thank you.
ACOX: Thank you.
HOLMES: Breaking news this hour. Auto workers walk out on GM. Tens of thousands going on strike just a short time ago. A new contract apparently hung up over retirement healthcare costs.
Stay here at the CNN NEWSROOM for the updates.
NGUYEN: Also, a new story into CNN. Drug agents call it the biggest crackdown on illegal steroids ever in the United States.
You'll want to stay tuned. There's a China connection.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, good morning, on this Monday. Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Tony and Heidi.
And it has happened. Didn't think it was going to happen, but the United Auto Workers have, in fact, decided to strike. And GM has got some problems here now.
Our Ali Velshi is in New York watching this story for us. Ali, it happened. A lot of folks did think it would. I remember talking to Susan Lisovicz a few weeks back, and everybody thought this was just going to work itself out. Yes, we didn't think we'd get to this day.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, here we are. Well, here's the interesting thing -- first of all, we have not, for some strange reason, we do not have official word and can't get official word from the United Auto Workers that the union is on strike.
But at 11:00 a.m. when the deadline they imposed overnight of 11:00, when that came and went, we do know that union reps made the phone call and told their people to get the workers out. So we have the Associated Press is reporting five plants of those that you see are affected. We know that Orion, Michigan is affected. We know Warren, Michigan is affected. That's where we just have seen those live pictures. We know that because we're looking at them. CNN has reports of picketers in St. Louis.
But we have not got confirmation that the United Auto Workers has officially declared a nationwide strike, which would be the first one in -- since 1976. There are 73,000 workers affected by this. And they were told in an e-mail and in a press release that if you don't receive word by 11:00 Eastern that we have a deal, walk off the job. And the locals got the pickets ready, and that's what's happened. We have starting to see people walking off the job across the country. There are 59 plants that could be affected by this, 73,000 workers. General Motors at last check was the largest car company in the world. There are some question as to whether Toyota is nipping at its heels an may have actually overtaken the company. But a massive strike, if it is true, with General Motors.
Now the thing to think about, T.J., here is that because we have not heard from General Motors or the United Auto Workers, one of two things is going on -- they're either hammering out a deal or not hammering out one. And if they are hammering one out, we should hear about it very soon hopefully, and that they'll be able to tell everybody to get back to work and carry on, but they might not have a deal, and we could have a pretty big strike on our hands pretty soon.
HOLMES: All right, Ali Velshi, watching it for us. Hopefully they are hammering out a deal and this will go away soon. This is not what anybody needs to see on either side really.
Ali Velshi, thank you so much. We'll be checking back in with you.
NGUYEN: Yes, we're not going to go away from this story. We'll continue to follow it and bring you the latest developments in the GM strike.
But in the meantime, it is being called the biggest illegal steroids bust in U.S. history.
CNN's Kelli Arena joins us with details on Operation Raw Deal. What's that all about?
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: You know, they all have a name, don't they, all of these operations. But in this one, you're right, more than 120 people were arrested as part of an international investigation. Fifty-six labs here in the United States have been shutdown. More than 11 million doses of steroids were seized.
Now more importantly, DEA officials say that they also found thousands of names of customers in the United States and the e-mail communications that those customers used to get their steroids. Obviously the big question now is, what's going to happen to those people? I mean, does the DEA indict them? Investigators say that some of them are already cooperating, but that's the other shoe that we're waiting to hear about dropping.
The DEA says that it got help from nine countries, most notably China. Investigators seized over 500 pounds of raw powder from there. Now China, you should know, is the sole supplier of raw materials for steroids that are sent to the United States. So far, one Chinese lab has been taken down as part of this investigation. But U.S. officials say that they recently provided intelligence folders on 37 companies over in China, and they hope that the Chinese government will follow up and close those down as well.
NGUYEN: Well, Kelli, we've heard a lot about abuse of steroids lately, but the DEA press release actually lists several negative side effects showing just how dangerous these drugs are. Lay that out for us.
ARENA: That's right. Some of the negative side effects include strokes, blood clots, impotence, baldness of all things. Of course we've all heard about the aggressive behavior that steroids can cause, mood swings and so on, but in fact the DEA says some young people have even committed suicide from depression cause by steroid abuse. So there's so much more -- these drugs are so dangerous and people just really don't have a good grasp of how dangerous they are. NGUYEN: And a huge bust today, the largest steroid bust in U.S. history. Kelli Arena, thanks for bringing us up to speed on that.
ARENA: You're welcome.
HOLMES: Prostate cancer is the second-leading cancer killer in men. But a new report suggests men can better manage their risk by better managing their diet.
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here.
Seriously, what we eat can affect our diet, and our diet can affect the prostate cancer? And is my lunch by back there helping or hurting me?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Yes, I saw that lunch, and I have to say, it's hurting you.
HOLMES: It's hurting me, OK.
COHEN: I'll get to those details in a minute.
But this in many ways very exciting news, because men have long asked their doctors, what can I do to prevent prostate cancer in my daily life? And there haven't really been a lot of answers. So this new study, if it pans out, could be very promising. What they found is that certain foods are good at preventing prostate cancer, tomatoes, for example, either canned or in raw form. And soy. Bad, red meat, which is where we get to T.J.'s lunch. Lots of red meat can actually put you at a higher risk for prostate cancer.
Now if you eat like this, if you trade your hamburgers for tofu, are you guaranteeing you'll never get prostate cancer? No, of course not. You can still get prostate cancer.
But the bottom line here is that this is a great diet for all sorts of things, limiting your red meat, eating more fruits and vegetables, always a good thing.
HOLMES: You should do that anyway.
So guarantees are. But what are those real things that we know we should be doing to help prevent prostate cancer?
COHEN: Right, in addition to possibly changing your diet, there are some things that men can do to lower their risk of getting prostate cancer. One thing is staying slim. There seems to be a link between obesity and prostate cancer, so staying slim helps. Also, get screened. That's probably the most important thing that men can do. At age 50 men need to getting that PSA blood test and that rectal examination, and at age 45 if someone is high risk.
Now men who are considered high risk who need to get these screenings early, that would include all African-American men are considered at high risk, and also anybody who has prostate cancer in their family, their father, their uncle, their brother. So you really need to double check that meal you just ate.
HOLMES: The red meat. My dad actually went through it. And I'm a black man. We'll I'm doing too well.
COHEN: Right, there you go. Yes, you need to think about it.
HOLMES: All right. Thank you so much. Really, I needed this dose of health news today. Thank you so much.
COHEN: Oh, good, good.
HOLMES: And to get your daily dose of the health news, you can get it online. Go to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.
NGUYEN: There are some new developments in that GM strike. They're dealing with the United Auto Workers Union members. And Ali Velshi joins us. Because, Ali, I understand you have some new late- breaking information.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have been having trouble getting ahold of the United Auto Workers and General Motors. General Motors now -- Associated Press is reporting that General Motors has said that the United Auto Workers has launched a national strike against General Motors. That is going to affect 73,000 workers at 59 plants.
We have our own confirmation of some of those plants where workers have walked off the job. Associated Press is helping us out with another five plants they have confirmed. Those are the 59 plants in the United States.
Apparently at exactly 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time, according to instructions that were given to local union representatives, at 11:00 a.m. they placed calls to say get the workers out. Workers have been leaving plants across the United States joining those picket lines, in the first national strike against an automaker since 1976.
Most people were expecting this would have resolved itself in a deal, and then late last night we got word from the United Auto Workers that if there wasn't a deal by 11:00 a.m. Eastern, workers were to leave their jobs and join the picket lines. We were even expecting until 11:00 that we would we'd get an announcement. No announcement has come through, and we are reporting now that General Motors is saying that there is a strike, a national strike against GM by the United Auto Workers. Expect 73,000 workers at 59 plants to walk off the job and stop the operations of General Motors, the world's largest automobile company here in the United States.
NGUYEN: OK, but, Ali, on the same token, we're looking at live pictures right now from our affiliate there in Detroit, WDIV, and you can see the picket lines and the people standing by.
But we are getting information that GM and the UAW have announced some kind of a settlement, or they will be announcing some kind after settlement around 12:15. There's going to be a news conference. Have you heard any word of that?
VELSHI: Yes, in fact this is the problem with this. We've been hearing -- I mean, everything that somebody says is happening we have -- we hear information that it's something else.
What we do know is at 12:15 there is some sort of press conference from the United Auto Workers side. We don't know whether that's going to be the announcement of a deal or the announcement of a strike, the confirmation of a strike. But if it is the announcement of a deal then this will have been quite possibly the shortest national strike in history. It may not be though. We don't know what the contents of that deal are. And I've got to say, Betty, this is one of those industries where things leak quite effectively. We almost always know ahead of time whether it's going to be a deal, or a strike or a contract negotiation.
NGUYEN: And yet we haven't heard any official word as of yet.
VELSHI: This one has been pretty tight. So I don't want to speculate what happens at 12:15, but we're about a half-hour away from hearing from the United Auto Workers as to what is going on here. We can see with our own cameras and our own eyes that clearly GM auto workers are on strike. But is this going to be a deal? Is this going to be a long strike?
NGUYEN: Right. Well, you know, and what makes it even more confusing is, they don't get word that there's a strike, they just get word that if you don't hear anything at a certain time you've got to go.
VELSHI: Right, and it does seem a little bit haphazard. What we are getting information trickling in now, is that there are union reps, obviously on all of these shop floors, and they did make phone calls at 11:00, because in order to walk off a job and avoid the tension that is involved in that, and perhaps the safety issues, there were marshals and union representatives who assisted workers in downing their tools and walking off the job. So there was some sense of organization to this, in that the local union representatives, we know in Flint, Michigan, for instance, made phone calls at 11:00 and said clear workers off the floor. and they started leaving the floor. So it does look like the workers at least believe they're on strike.
NGUYEN: And we're talking about, some 73,000. What does this mean for GM? How long can they afford to see workers like this go on strike?
VELSHI: Most people have said that General Motors, in the shape it's in -- and it's the healthiest of the three Detroit automakers, can probably deal with a strike that lasts up until a week. They can keep some of their operations. They've got enough sort of excess in terms of available vehicles. After a week it starts to become a fairly serious problem.
The other danger of course is that these strikes can spread. Ford and Chrysler are not involved in this at the moment. And under the terms of their agreement, they've got to get three days notice as to whether the UAW will strike them or not. So nobody wants this to go on. But maybe General Motors can weather about a week of it.
NGUYEN: Well, and maybe we'll hear a little bit more along the lines of maybe even a settlement at that news conference at noon Eastern dealing with United Auto Workers Union.
VELSHI: If anything good leaks, I'll be sure to get back to you and tell you what it is.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Ali, you've been all over it. We thank you for your time, and we'll be checking in with you very shortly.
HOLMES: And we also are going to check in and checking on GM stock, see where that is right about now. But first, we want to give you a bit of a news quiz here. United Auto Workers union represents how many people? You might have heard the number here and there during the past couple hours that we talked about this story today, but how many do they represent? That story -- or that answer coming ahead. Stay here.
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HOLMES: And We asked you before the break how many people does United Auto Workers Union represent? Well, the answer -- 640,000 active members, half million retired members.
NGUYEN: Well, those picket signs are up and it does appear that the UAW workers are on strike there at plants across the nation, Gm Plants. We are getting word though that there is a possible agreement between GM and the United Auto Workers Union. That could be announced at 12:15 at a news conference that's to take place. Again, no confirmation on whether indeed there is a settlement, but there are talks that there might be. So we'll be listening very closely to that as well.
But as you see, picket signs are up. People have walked off the job. United Auto Workers union members are there, as you can see, very clearly and we'll probably see many more join that crowd throughout the day. We'll stay on top of this story for you.
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HOLMES: Well, it appears that the United Auto Workers Union has done what the union said it was going to do, 11:00 Eastern Time today. No word of a settlement between the union and General Motors so it appears now that in fact a nationwide strike has been called. United Auto Workers striking against General Motors, some 73,000 workers walking off the job.
Our Ali Velshi keeping an eye on this thing. And developments really have been all over the place. What have you been able to sort through, Ali?
VELSHI: I'm glad we have cameras, because the only thing I can tell you is that in Warren, Michigan, which is what you're looking at, there are pickets. Let me tell you what we do know -- we know that in Orion, Michigan, Warren, Michigan, Lansing, Michigan, Parma, Ohio, St. Louis, Missouri, we know that there are workers on strike in those places. We know that they got a call to walk off the job at 11:00 this morning. They got an e-mail overnight and a letter to say, walk off the job if you do not hear that there is a deal.
The United Auto Workers set a deadline of 11:00 this morning Eastern Time, 52 minutes ago. That deadline came and went. These workers walked off the job.
Now we know that at 12:15 p.m., about 25 minutes from now, there will be a news conference at the United Auto Workers Solidarity House in Detroit. This is not a joint news conference. This is not with General Motors. So there have been reports of a settlement. There are some news outlets reporting that they will announce a settlement. We do not have that information, and I don't know that a news conference that's held unilaterally by the United Auto Workers tells us that there is a settlement. Something will be discussed at 12:15.
But we do know that there are strikes at several General Motors plants, and there are 59 of them. As you just saw on that map, there are 59 plants in the United States, 73,000 General Motors unionized workers in the United States. And this is a national strike, at least for now. And that would be the first national strike against an automaker since the 1970s.
That's what we know right now. Everything else at the moment is speculation.
HOLMES: And, Ali, this press conference we have coming up at 12:15, is this what we can expect now, a bit of back-and and forth, of a PR campaign, everybody trying to get sentiment on their side?
VELSHI: If it's a strike.
HOLMES: If that's what it is.
VELSHI: If they're announcing that the strike is over, that it started at 11:00 this morning Eastern Time and is over at 12:15 and workers should get back to work, that's a whole different story. They could be announcing that in fact what we are seeing on camera, which looks very much like a strike, what we're hearing from our reporters who are talking to people at plants, that they downed their tools and walked off the job and joined the picket lines, we don't know where this is going.
I have absolutely conflicting information on this. I have some people telling me that you are going to hear there is a deal. And I have others telling me, you're not going to hear there is a deal. So this is, at the moment, a dangerous situation. It's not a good situation for the auto industry.
But what we do have is for the first time since the 1970s, what at least the workers of General Motors believe is a national strike. NGUYEN: Well, Ali, let me ask you this question, because we're looking at this video, and it's really been our only eyes into what's happening out there, because there is all that conflicting information coming in. But when you look at this, this thing, if it is indeed a strike, it's been going on for about 53 minutes now, almost an hour, wouldn't you have seen more people out there on those picket lines?
VELSHI: Well, I think they've been getting the same information that we've been getting, and that is until last night there were strong indications that they were moving toward a settlement. But these talks have been kept really very carefully under wraps. So we haven't been hearing what's coming out of those meetings. I think the picketers knew that their instructions were to walk off the job at 11:00 this morning. But I'm not entirely clear whether everybody felt when they went to bed last night that there was -- I certain didn't -- that there was going to be a strike this morning.
So it may be that this word -- you know, there are people waiting around to hear from us on television what we know about this strike or to hear their union leaders broadcasting that you are in a strike, or the strike's over and go back to work, or we've got a deal, or we're going to negotiate for a few more hours or a few more days. Unclear as to what's going on. It was a bit of a surprise that at 1:40 a.m., the head of the United Auto Workers sent a message out in a press release to say, if you don't hear from us by 11:00 a.m., you're on strike. A very unusual way to go on strike; you know, usually you get an announcement, or there's an absolute deadline. This was a message -- if we don't talk to you, walk off the job.
NGUYEN: Maybe we'll get some definitive statement from the United Auto Workers union at 12:15 Eastern today, just in a few minutes from now, as to exactly what is going on, if indeed this is a strike or if some rumors that have been circulating that there is a settlement may be true. So in the meantime, we'll stay on top of it.
Ali, thank you.
VELSHI: Yes.
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NGUYEN: And we are going to have much more throughout the day on that GM strike. In fact, a news conference will be taking place in about 18 minutes from now. When that does take place, we ill bring it to you live right here on CNN. But in the Meantime, the NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.
HOLMES: YOUR WORLD TODAY coming up next. Stay here.
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