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Child-on-Child Hate Crime?; On The Trail: McCain in Ohio; Amber Alert Issued for Two Children in Arizona

Aired February 25, 2008 - 14:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, if you can't say something nice, you'll fit right in. As the Democrat candidates for president fight to the finish, that finish could be just eight days away.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The victim was 15. His accused attacker, just 14 years old. And their community is shattered by an undisputed tragedy and allegations of deadly hate.

Hello, everybody, on this Monday. I'm Betty Nguyen, in today for Kyra Phillips, at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Don Lemon.

And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: A woman dies on a flight just begging for help while family members watch. Now one of them blames the flight crew and their equipment -- or lack of equipment.

American Airlines is investigating the last moments of Carine Desir, who died on a Haiti-to-New York flight after complaining of breathing problems on Friday. Desir's cousin says the crew first refused to give her oxygen, then tried to use tanks that were empty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO OLIVER, COUSIN: She said, my darling, please, don't let me die. Go ask for some oxygen for you. Please, baby. I love you, baby. I love you. Don't let me die. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. Please. Please.

And I start yelling in the plane, "Somebody help me."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: That is just so hard to hear.

Well, American Airlines issued a statement today, and it says, it is "... very saddened over the death of passenger Carine Desir on Flight 896 from Haiti to New York's JFK Airport last Friday and extends its deepest sympathy to the grieving family." It goes on to say, "We are investigating this incident, as we do with all serious medical situations on board our aircraft. But American Airlines can say oxygen was administered and the automatic external defibrillator was applied." "Among the preflight duties of our highly-trained flight attendants is a check of all emergency equipment on the aircraft. This includes checking the oxygen bottles. There were 12 in this particular aircraft. And we stand behind the actions and training of our crew and the functionality of the onboard medical equipment. We are also grateful to the medical volunteers on this flight who worked valiantly to save this passenger."

HOLMES: Well, a California teenager is dead. A younger classmate now facing a murder charge. That is just the beginning of a story that has stunned the community of Oxnard. And it's also led police to investigate an alleged child-on-child hate crime.

Here now, CNN's Vince Gonzales.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VINCE GONZALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Students marched in Oxnard, California, in memory of Lawrence "Larry" King, the 15- year-old student police say was gunned down by a classmate because he was openly gay. King's murder shocked the southern California community.

MICKEY GOLDSTYN, FAMILY FRIEND: It's inconceivable that anybody could be that angry at a kid that was that nice.

GONZALES: He's remembered as friendly and outgoing, but fellow students say he became the subject of taunts and bullying in school after speaking out about his sexual orientation and reportedly wearing makeup, lipstick and jewelry to school.

PHIL COHEN, FAMILY FRIEND: That was a very small part of Larry, and just one facet of his life.

GONZALES: But the situation apparently escalated. And on February 12th, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney allegedly shot King in the head in the school's computer lab.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was Larry?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Larry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was?

GONZALES: McInerney was arrested a few blocks away from campus a short time later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's over. It's over.

GONZALES: King was pronounced brain dead at a local hospital. His body was kept alive so his organs could be donated.

MAEVE FOX, DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Mr. McInerney is facing one charge of murder. There is an allegation that he was 14 years old at the time, which allows us to charge (ph) him as an adult. There's a special allegation of the personal use of a firearm under 12022.53 and there's a special allegation that it was a hate crime.

GONZALES: Defense attorneys say McInerney is too young to be tried as an adult. He just turned 14 recently.

RYAN VOGEL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: My client hasn't become an adult in the last three weeks, so we feel that it would be more appropriately addressed in the juvenile court.

GONZALES: At the school where McInerney allegedly shot King, some parents say it's time to teach more tolerance in California classrooms.

LUCY RODRIGUEZ, PARENT: It's sad, but it's not just this district, it's every district. Something really has to be implemented.

GONZALES: Whatever changes are implemented, they will come too late for King and his alleged murderer, who is expected back in court to enter a plea in late March.

For CNN, Vince Gonzales, in Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, a story like this got us to thinking, may get you to thinking, too, about how much young people have to deal with these days. Their identity, their sexuality, issues that can all too often cause a wave of depression. We'll look a little closer with family therapist Tara Fields coming up at the half hour.

NGUYEN: Leading our political ticker today, Hillary Clinton accuses Barack Obama of borrowing a page from Karl Rove's playbook. Clinton is angry over two mailers by the Obama campaign. One accuses her of switching her position on the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the other criticizes her health care plan. Clinton says the mailings are false. The Obama campaign says they are true.

Well, Ohio and Texas are the big states holding primaries on March 4th. But we have new polls today from the other two states, Rhode Island and Vermont.

In Rhode Island, our CNN/American Research Group survey shows Hillary Clinton leading with 52 percent to Barack Obama's 40 percent. In Vermont, Obama leads with 60 percent to Clinton's 34 percent. And on the Republican side, John McCain has big leads in both states.

Well, John McCain padded his lead and the Republican race, winning all 20 delegates in Puerto Rico yesterday. On Saturday, he scored victories in American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands, picking up 18 more delegates. Mike Huckabee trails McCain by a big margin in the GOP race, but there is still no sign the Arkansas governor plans to stand down anytime soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The whole thing is that this still could go to a brokered convention. People forget that many of the Republican nominees over time, from until recently, it was settled at the convention.

Now, if John McCain doesn't get 1,191 confirmed, committed, pledged delegates, then there is no nominee officially until we get to the convention. And when we get to the convention, all bets are off, and many of the delegates can do what they wish. Now, it's possible that he'll get there. And if he does, then so be it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Well, according to CNN estimates, McCain now has 918 delegates. Huckabee has 217 -- 1,191 delegates are needed to win the Republican nomination.

Let's talk about this now. Ralph Nader running for president again. Yes. If you count his write-in campaign of 1992, this makes his fifth attempt. And once again, the consumer advocate is lashing out at the Republican and Democratic contenders. Nader says Americans won't vote for a pro-war John McCain, and he says if the Democrats can't win in a landslide this year, the party should "wrap up, close down, emerge in a different form."

HOLMES: Well, the primary in Ohio eight days from now. And Ohio, as you can expect, getting a whole lot of attention, including from that gentleman, Republican John McCain. He's looking for votes there today. And CNN's Dana Bash joins us now from Ohio.

Hello there, Dana. Good to see you.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, too, T.J. Now, Ohio is one of the four states that you were just talking about, one of the four states that the McCain campaign hopes, hopes a week from tomorrow will mathematically finally put them over the edge to get the nomination for the Republican Party in an official capacity. Now, John McCain has been campaigning as if he already is the candidate who will face a Democrat, whomever that is in November.

And he's quite interesting, T.J. On the issue that really brought his campaign back from nowhere, and that ironically is the war in Iraq, it is something that he has been talking about nonstop. It's something that has helped him when it comes to the Republican fight for -- for the nomination.

But it really is a different ball game when you're talking about the general election, because particularly a state like Ohio, it is a place where the war is not necessarily a popular thing among the Independents and maybe even some Republicans that he needs for the general election. And it was quite evident in listening to John McCain today, although he did get the one and only standing ovation during this town hall that he had not far from where I am -- from where I am.

He got the one standing ovation on the issue of the war when he talked about never surrendering. But there was evidence that he is -- understands that it's not going to be easy to campaign against Democrats on the war.

He was asked just a general question by a voter about the issue of benchmarks, whether the Iraqis are making progress, and his response was to explain the controversial comment that he made last month about the fact that the U.S. might be in Iraq for more than 100 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was asked at a town hall meeting back and forth, how long would we have a presence in Iraq? My friends, the war will be over soon. The war, for all intents and purposes, although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years.

But it will be handled by the Iraqis, not by us. And then we decide what kind of security arrangement we want to have with the Iraqis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, anybody who's listened to a Democrat, either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, on the campaign trail, they use that line that John McCain made saying that he's -- if America elects him as president, he wants to just stay the course and keep a U.S. troop presence in Iraq for 100 years. I asked John McCain whether or not he did feel a little bit worried about that comment, or just in general about the war in Iraq and how that might play in a general election, and he said that he understood that the Democrats were, from his perspective, twisting the words that he used when he talked about that in the town hall back in January.

He said that nobody mentioned the fact that Democrats, for example, said that they did not think the surge would work. From his perspective, the surge is working. And he said this is going to be a big issue, of course, in the general election.

But it is quite interesting just to see the transformation, T.J., of the war in Iraq as a campaign issue in the primary election, in the Republican versus Republican, where everybody was racing to see who could be the toughest on Iraq, because that's the kind of thing Republican voters want to hear, to the difference between that and the general electorate, where it is a very different sentiment when you're talking about the war in Iraq -- T.J.

HOLMES: Yes. It's a new ballgame now. He has to get to the general election, but still he has an opponent that's still out there, of course, Mike Huckabee, who is saying he's not going to -- he's still not being out.

Well, we're not hearing that much from the McCain camp criticizing, I guess, Huckabee, but even privately or behind the scenes, any whispers that they're just annoyed that Huckabee is keeping this thing going?

BASH: You know what? I've got to be honest with you, they're really -- in a way, most ways, they're really not. Because they understand that they actually have a lot of work to do behind the scenes themselves, the McCain campaign. And this buys them a little bit of time to try to figure out how they're going to deal with the -- with the reality of getting a general election campaign up and running.

I mean, the McCain campaign is a campaign unlike, let's say, the Romney campaign or even the Giuliani campaign, that doesn't have a structure that -- that is prepared for a general election. Because you'll remember, McCain had to fire most of his campaign staff back in July, when his campaign ran out of money.

Since then, they have been kind of living off the land. They've expanded a little bit, but they really are not prepared for a general election campaign structurally, in terms of message. I mean, you name it. So, they are buying time with Mike Huckabee being in the race.

Having said that, they can say that inside the McCain campaign as soon as and -- I mean as long as he is winning. I mean, as long as John McCain is winning -- and if you look at the latest polls in Ohio and Texas, it looks like he will win here. That's why they can sort of feel comfortable not being that annoyed, to use your language, with Mike Huckabee still in the race.

HOLMES: Yes, you didn't want to take credit for using the word "annoyed." I understand. Sorry, Dana.

Dana Bash for us in Ohio. Thank you so much.

And, of course, folks, all the latest campaign news is available at your fingertips, CNNpolitics.com, plus analysis from the best political team on television. That, and more, at CNNpolitics.com.

NGUYEN: Well, this just in to CNN. We have learned that a man in Florida bitten by a shark while diving off of a -- the area near Fort Lauderdale has died. The 50-year-old man, his name is not yet known. It's also not clear where exactly he was bitten.

But the U.S. Coast Guard says he was diving off a commercial boat about 50 miles east of Fort Lauderdale Sunday when the shark bit him. The shark did get away before anyone was able to identify exactly what type of shark it was. The man was then flown to the hospital, where authorities say he died today.

So, a man bitten by a shark while diving near Fort Lauderdale has died today. Of course, as we get more information on this, we will pass it on to you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, did you hear about the head-on collision on the campaign trail? Yes, Obama and Clinton butting heads over the weekend. We're going to take a closer look at this Democratic family feud.

HOLMES: Also, teenagers who are depressed. What to do when adolescence becomes dangerously tough.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: It's 19 minutes after the hour. Here are three of the stories that we are working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

President Bush reiterating today that telecom companies who went along with warrantless wiretapping must be granted immunity from prosecution. That's been a sticking point as Congress works to past a new FISA surveillance bill.

Relatives are taking stand on Bobby Cutts' behalf as the sentencing phase of the trial gets under way. Cutts faces the possibility of the death penalty. He was convicted of the murder of his unborn child and pregnant girlfriend.

Ad after analyzing all the data, the Pentagon says it's pretty confident a broken satellite was destroyed by a missile last week. That satellite was fueled by a toxic chemical that could have posed a hazard if the space junk crash-landed to Earth.

HOLMES: Well, you've got mounting bills, past-due notices, sleepless nights spent worried about how to get out from under it all. Well, personal finance editor Gerri Willis here to help you sort it all out today and all week.

Gerri, good to have you here in Atlanta with us live and in color. The color red, even.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: It's all red today.

HOLMES: It's all red.

WILLIS: Yes.

HOLMES: But, yes, you're helping folks out really in a major way this week. Good to have you here.

WILLIS: Oh, it's great to be here, T.J. You know, CNN is on the "FINANCIAL SECURITY WATCH" all week long. Your job, your house, your debt and your savings.

Now, in tomorrow's program we're going to take a closer look at the debate on Capitol Hill to change bankruptcy rules. Some lawmakers want to give a judge the ability to reduce loan sizes of homeowners in trouble. Plus, mortgage fraud, it's everywhere out there. But you don't have to be a victim. We'll walk you step by step through avoiding mortgage fraud.

And I've got to tell you, some of this can be fun, like creating something new in your home. We'll tell you how to maximize the return on your home renovations by picking the right contractor.

Plus, we'll also take your phone calls and help answer your questions on all of this. Be sure to call in. You can also send us e-mails to FSW@CNN.com. That's tomorrow, 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, "FINANCIAL SECURITY WATCH." We hope you'll join us.

HOLMES: All right. What are you getting -- I know it's just day one, but still, you open up the phone lines and open up the e-mails. So far, what do people really want to know about so far?

WILLIS: We're getting tons of phone calls, lots of e-mails. Lots of concerns about debt, lots of concerns about the economy, about what's going on in people's personal wallets, and what they can do about it. You know, I feel if we just answer one good question and get somebody some good advice, we've really done what we're here for.

HOLMES: And that's what people need. Just say it in plain English. Just give it to me straight. That's what you're giving them this week.

Good to have you here. Good start to it. A good show today, right? You feeling good about it? A good start?

WILLIS: Yes, feeling good about it. And we want to hear from people. You know, it's all about talking to folks directly and giving them the answer the that they need, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Well, a lot of people appreciate it, and we appreciate having you in Atlanta this week.

WILLIS: Thank you.

HOLMES: Thank you so much, Gerri.

Well, again, all this week, Gerri Willis, the latest news and advice for maintaining your financial security. Tune in every day at noon. Gerri Willis taking your calls and addressing your money concerns.

NGUYEN: Well, he was a star athlete, a popular student. It seemed everything was going for him. So why did Jordan Burnham jump from a ninth-story window? We're going to take a closer look at teens and depression.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: This just into CNN -- we have learned about a triple stabbing in New York. Here's what we know.

It happened around 12:30 Eastern Time near 56 West 45th Street. I understand that's in the Diamond District. It's not known if the stabbings occurred inside or outside of a location. There are no suspects in custody or a description of the suspect. But here's what we do know -- one person did suffer wounds to the face. The other two people suffered cuts to their hands.

Again, a triple stabbing in what we believe to be the Diamond District of New York. No suspect at this time or description. Of course, we'll stay on top of this story and continue to follow it for you.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, from the outside, he seemed to have it all. But on the inside, this high school senior was fighting for his life. He was battling depression, a battle he almost lost.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I ran under there, and the only thing on my mind was, I just wanted to get all his body parts. Because I figured he -- that was it. And I wanted to grab his body parts and to help him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: A terrifying moment that is now a story of survival.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, young, successful, talented. Jordan Burnham had everything, and still tried to end it all. His survival gives the outside world a glimpse inside the torment of teenage depression.

Jordan tells his story now to CNN's Allan Chernoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it hurting or are you OK?

JORDAN BURNHAM, SUICIDE SURVIVOR: I'm OK.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fact that Jordan Burnham is alive today is a miracle. He is learning to walk again five months after suffering devastating injuries.

BURNHAM: Another sign from a friend.

CHERNOFF: How Jordan came to this is a stunning story, offering life lessons for teens and their parents. He was captain of his golf team at Upper Marion High in King Of Prussia, Pennsylvania, a baseball pitcher and an anchor on the school's news program.

BURNHAM: I was popular. I got along with everybody.

CHERNOFF: One of the most popular seniors, having just been selected to homecoming court. What happened? Jordan tried to kill himself.

(on-camera): He jumped out of his bedroom window, nine stories up, and fell to the ground on his left side. He fractured his leg, pelvis, arm, wrist, and jaw, and was suffering severe internal bleeding. After he was medevaced to the hospital at the University of Pennsylvania, doctors said he probably wouldn't make it.

EARL BURNHAM, JORDAN'S FATHER: I ran under there, and the only thing on my mind was I just -- I just want to get all his body parts, because I figured that was it. And I wanted to grab his body parts and have them.

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Earlier in the day, Earl Burnham says he found beer and liquor in the trunk of Jordan's car. Earl and Georgette were careful in confronting their son. First checking with a therapist who was treating Jordan, before grounding him.

GEORGETTE BURNHAM, JORDAN'S MOTHER: Why Jordan? You know, why, why is this a problem? And he said, I don't know, mom, I'm just a mess-up. I just wanted to let him know, no, you're not a mess-up. And that's the point where he went into his bedroom.

CHERNOFF: To friends at school, Jordan seemed happy, but there was a pressure cooker, boiling within his mind. Pressure to achieve good grades like his valedictorian older sister, to fit in at his nearly all-white high school and to, above all, not disappoint his parents.

BURNHAM: I hold myself to a certain standard. And when I don't reach that standard or I feel like I failed at something or I feel like I let myself down, then I get pretty down on myself.

CHERNOFF: Jordan was struggling academically and his parents had caught him drinking several times.

BURNHAM: All of a sudden, it was almost like I hit rock bottom. That was as low as I could go. That was as bad as the depression could have got. I felt like, obviously, I had to take my own life just because I was letting my parents down and I didn't deserve to live anymore. I had to have crawled out of that window and looked down and, still, I was at such a low point that that didn't even back me off, that I felt -- felt like I had to do it.

CHERNOFF: Earl and Georgette Burnham were involved parents, well aware of their son's depression. For two years Jordan had been seeing a therapist and taking an antidepressant, but it wasn't enough. Psychiatrist Jeffrey Staub treated Jordan after his suicide attempt.

JEFFREY STAUB, PSYCHIATRIST: Depression can be fatal even when we try and put all of the pieces together, with a psychiatrist, a therapist.

CHERNOFF: Suicide is the third leading cause of teenage death. A result of the facts, say experts, that about 1 in every 20 teenagers suffers from clinical depression. Jordan says he realizes now anyone who's depressed needs to talk it out.

BURNHAM: Say what's on your mind and get out your thoughts and feelings, because it's important. And that's the mistake that I made, was I tried to hide it from even myself.

CHERNOFF: A lesson Jordan and his parents hope will prevent other teens from attempting suicide.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. (END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And we'll get back to the issue of teen depression in just a moment.

But we have a story to tell you out of Arizona today. Here's what we know. An amber alert has been issued for two children. They were abducted by an armed man in Avondale. Police say the children are likely in danger. They are ages five and six and they were last seen in a red 2006 Dodge Ram with two silver horses on the back window.

Now, if you're in the area, we do have a license plate. This car was last seen on Interstate 10 with Arizona license plate 448-WMX. Again, an amber alert has been issued for two small children who police say are believed to be in danger.

They are ages five and six, last seen in a 2006 Dodge Ram pickup truck with the license plate 448-WMX. And, of course, this taking place in Arizona. We'll stay on top of this story and bring you the latest.

In other news, the California community of Oxnard still in mourning, and still reeling from an alleged child-on-child hate crime earlier this month. Police say a 15-year-old openly gay junior high student was shot to death at school, by a 14-year-old classmate, who is now facing a murder charge.

Students say Lawrence King, the victim, had been taunted and bullied after speaking out about his sexual orientation. Now, in the wake of that story, and the one about Jordan Burnham dealing with depression, many more kids like them, and we want to take a closer look at the pressures that your teenagers face.

Developing their identities, finding their sexuality, it can be a long, difficult, and depressing experience. So how can you help? We're going to bring in family therapist Tara Fields right now. She joins us from San Francisco.

Let's take the case of Lawrence King. This was a kid, really, just 14-years-old, who was openly gay. Students say he was wearing mascara, lipstick, even jewelry. I mean, this is a kid expressing his sexuality at school, and then he winds up dead.

What is going wrong?

TARA FIELDS, FAMILY THERAPIST: Well, what's going wrong is there is such a terrible stigma, even amongst adults if you're gay, a lot of misinformation that is the choice as opposed to genetic.

And, you know, here he probably said, I am going to be true to myself. And my concern is for all the other gay boys and girls, and I just have to say that the highest suicide rate is among adolescent gay boys.

My fear is that they're going to say, see what happens, see what happens? I'm not telling anyone. I'm not going to even tell my parents. And shame on the adults who possibly said something to that boy that killed him.

You know, that, you know, that they're freaks, there's something wrong with them, they're going to come on to you. None of these things are accurate and there's so many myths that we do need to clear up.

NGUYEN: Well, let's look at the boy who is accused of killing him, a 15-year-old. And what I understand from reports is that Lawrence King, the victim here, supposedly had a crush on the shooter. And that may have been driven the shooter to act in this way. It's no excuse, obviously. But how do you resolve a situation like that when you're dealing with teenagers?

FIELDS: Well, the way you do it; it starts at home. I mean, obviously, he's getting some messages and we hear this also all the time, that "He was coming on to me, or I don't want to be in the same locker room with him." I mean, what was going on with the shooter's sexuality that he felt so threatened. And it's a learned behavior.

And, you know, in a perfect world, a boy like that, and he is a boy, would also be able to go to his parents for a reality check, and other adults who can say, have compassion as opposed to, yes, you know, the next thing you know he's going to come on to you or he's going to jump you or something. And, again, that's based on fear, not facts.

NGUYEN: You know, a story like this is shocking no matter what the age.

FIELDS: Yes.

NGUYEN: But I think especially when you're talking about a 14 and a 15-year-old. Does it seem like when it comes to coming out, sexual orientation and all of that, that more and more young people are deciding what their sexual orientation is at an earlier age?

FIELDS: Well, it's interesting that you say deciding because science has shown us, American Psychological Association, every kind of mental health association has said, this is not a choice. And I don't --

NGUYEN: But they're recognizing it and they're coming out openly with it.

FIELDS: Well, they -- but really not enough. Because this is such an example of the fear of what will happen. I see too many children, teenagers, even adults in my practice who say, I can't tell anybody. This is shameful. I'm going to stuff it inside.

And we know that anything you push down is going to have dire consequences. Whether it's depression, whether it's suicide. So, again, the most important thing is changing the culture where people say who you are in the world, not your sexual orientation, is what's important. NGUYEN: Yes. And well, you have to talk to your children.

FIELDS: Yes.

NGUYEN: You mentioned depression as we talked about Jordan Burnham a little bit earlier. This is a kid who had everything going for him, but he jumped out of a nine-story window. What is it about depression among young people that they just feel like there's nowhere else to turn?

FIELDS: Well, there really is a tie between the two, which is there's no one there to make it safe for them to talk about it. And a reality check, there's the shame, again. Feeling like I'm not good enough. I'm going to let my parent down. And, you know, the fact that he's male and African-American had to make it even more difficult.

Because as it is, adults don't want to accept the fact that children even as young as seven are depressed. They even think about dying. But then we still have the stigma in our society that men are supposed to suck it up, be tough. Here he was --

NGUYEN: So are children not taught how to cope?

FIELDS: They're not taught how to cope. But also, there's too much pressure on teenagers now, and children, to be superachievers. And a subtle message that it's what you achieve, not who you are inside. So it is important for parents to say, you may not accomplish what your sibling did, but you're unique. You are special. You are sweet.

And so what if you came home with an A minus, or you weren't head of the tennis team? You're a good child --

NGUYEN: It's not the end of the world. Absolutely.

FIELDS: That's right. And it's OK to talk to me; and then walk the walk when they do.

NGUYEN: Yes, you got to open that line of communication.

FIELDS: Yes.

NGUYEN: Dr. Tara Fields, a licensed family therapist. Thanks for joining us today.

FIELDS: My pleasure.

HOLMES: Well, some heated words from the campaign trail as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama battle it out for the Democratic nomination. We'll check it our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, the March 4th primaries in Texas and Ohio are expected to make or break Hillary Clinton's bid for the Democratic nomination. In the latest Poll of Polls in Ohio, Clinton leads Barack Obama 49 percent to 39 percent. Twelve percent still undecided. The Poll of Polls is an average of three recent surveys of likely Democratic primary voters. Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider joins us now to help us understand those polls, and other things we've been seeing.

Bill, is something working for Hillary Clinton in Ohio? Or is the lead, that ten-point lead we're seeing there, has it actually dwindled down from where she was earlier?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It has dwindled down a bit, but she appears to be ahead in Ohio. There were three recent polls, all showing her ahead. And what appears to be working for her is the poor economy.

Ohio is one of the states that has a big manufacturing sector and it's one of the states that's suffering from the bad economy and very, very serious job losses. The issue of trade in NAFTA is very big in Ohio. And there's a big matter of debate, issue of contention, between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Why is that working for Hillary Clinton? Well, those voters in Ohio who are hurting economically, they're not looking for a leader who can inspire. They're looking for a leader who can deliver. And that appears to be Hillary Clinton to a lot of them.

HOLMES: And that's working for her. Well, I don't know who she might have inspired over the weekend with some of this rhetoric we saw. She was responding, making some comments -- upset, obviously, about some mailers that went out.

We'll listen -- we'll play it, and we know you heard it, but we'll play it for our viewers here and we'll talk to you on the other side.

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SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Enough with the speeches and the big rallies, and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove's playbook. This is wrong. And every Democrat should be outraged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Experience makes her the best qualified to be president is all the work that she was doing in the Clinton administration. You can't take credit for everything that's good in the Clinton administration and then suddenly say, you don't want to take credit for what folks don't like about the Clinton administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: OK. I'm no expert, but she seemed upset. There was a lot more to that sound, but she was visibly angry. Was this more of a tactical move, or is she genuinely peeved by what has happened now in this campaign?

SCHNEIDER: Well, I can't answer that. It's something that, you know, is going on inside her own campaign and inside her own head. But Barack Obama did charge -- and this is a tactical move that he said puzzled him because she had been so open and friendly at the end of the debate the other night in Austin when she reached out to him and said whatever happens, you know, we will have our friends and our families and it's only the American people I worry about. It was a very friendly gesture.

But suddenly she got very angry over these flyers which, she argued, misrepresented her position on health care and on NAFTA. The stakes are clearly getting very high. She may have been trying to rattle Barack Obama. If that's the case, he didn't -- he wasn't particularly rattled in his response to her.

And there's been some effort by the Clinton campaign to make the case that Obama's not tough enough. That if he's the nominee, the Republicans will just wipe the floor with him. So, maybe they were trying to provoke him to see if he would fight back.

HOLMES: And are there some Democratic insiders who are looking at this stuff and saying this is just going to hurt us down the road if these two -- I mean, it's obvious at times they haven't seemed to like each other very much. But she was really strong in this language. He's hitting her back. She even said, hey, meet me in Ohio. It sounded like she was saying meet me out back, almost.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. It was a step outside statement. Let's -- you meet me in Ohio and have a debate. Well, here's some news. They are going to do that. That was scheduled for a long time. They're going to meet tomorrow night in Cleveland, Ohio, for precisely that debate.

But it seems like an effort to provoke Barack Obama and just show that she's tough and maybe he's not. But the Democrats, as you indicated, the Democrats very worried about this. This could get out of hand. It could hurt the party. A divided party has trouble winning in November and a lot of Democrats are hoping this contest will shut down, one way or the other, in the very near future.

HOLMES: All right. Let's turn quickly now to John McCain. He had the issue with "The New York Times" article questioning his links to a lobbyist. Well, that kind of hit at the core of McCain's whole message, being a straight shooter. Well, we have this other issue now about campaign financing that has come up.

Try to give people the quick explainer of what has happened now. And this, again, goes at the core of one of his big issues of, hey, campaign finance reform. And it now looks like there might be some questions about his dealings with his campaign finances. SCHNEIDER: Well, the Federal Election Commission did send him a letter raising questions -- raising objections, really, to his move, his intention to opt out of the federal financing system for the rest of the primaries. If he accepts federal matching money for the rest of the primaries, his spending would be limited to about $40 million between now and the time of the Republican convention in September.

And that's not a lot of money for seven or eight months. The objection they were raising was, he used the federal matching funds to guarantee a loan from a Washington-area bank so that he had money to continue his campaign back in December. So, the FEC is saying, wait a minute, you used that money to guarantee a loan, you can't opt out of it now.

HOLMES: So, that might be an issue. We don't know how that one's going to get worked out, but it doesn't look good for the guy who was talking about campaign finance reform. Bill Schneider, we appreciate you as always, kind sir. We'll see you again soon.

SCHNEIDER: OK.

HOLMES: And of course all the latest news at your fingertips, CNNpolitics.com. Analysis, and whatnot, from the best political team on television. That, and more, again at CNNpolitics.com.

NGUYEN: Well, we do have some new information on that man who died after being bitten by a shark off of Ft. Lauderdale. We understand that he was actually in Bahamian waters at the time and we actually have some video as well.

We're going to try to put that up for you right now. This is what we know from the Miami-Dade police department, and they are saying that the man was on a dive boat. Again, in the Bahamian waters. And they were attracting sharks to them.

Here's a look at that video right there. Police say they don't know why or what method they were trying to attack sharks. But the man was bitten by an unidentified shark species and died today. We have learned, though, that it's not clear exactly where he was bitten and they have not released the man's name.

But, again, he was bitten by a shark after being on a boat, commercial boat, that was being used to attract sharks to these divers. And don't know, again, according to the Miami-Dade police, what method was being used to attract those sharks. But when you attract them, apparently, they bit. And a man now is dead because of it. An unfortunate situation and, of course, we told you we'd continue to follow it and that's the latest in what we know.

HOLMES: Well, it was a heck of a night at the Oscars. A quirky pair of brothers, and plenty of foreign talent, picked up some serious hardware for their trophy cases.

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NGUYEN: Well, Oscar shines on some dark characters at the 80th Academy Awards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENZEL WASHINGTON, ACTOR: And the Oscar goes to, "No Country For Old Men."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And there was some good. The quirky drama about a drug deal gone wrong won best picture and netted three Oscars for brothers Joel and Ethan Coen for writing, producing, and directing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HELEN MIRREN, ACTRESS: And the Oscar goes to, Daniel Day-Lewis for "There Will Be Blood."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Daniel Day-Lewis picked up a golden statuette for his performance as an insanely driven oil man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOREST WHITAKER, ACTOR: And the Oscar goes to, Marion Cotillard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: The French actress, Marion Cotillard, proved this year's awards were truly a foreign affair. She won her performance as French singer, Edith Piaf.

If you'd like to see the complete list of Academy Award nominees and winners, check out CNN.com's Academy Award spotlight. There's lots of fun galleries, you can see all the gowns and quizzes for all you movie buffs, too. That address, CNN.com/academyaward.

HOLMES: Deep in the heart of Texas, our Ali Velshi checks out -- what is he riding? A horse. That's not a horse.

NGUYEN: That's a longhorn.

HOLMES: What is it? He couldn't find a horse? They couldn't trust him with a horse! It's Ali Velshi. He's checking out what voters are saying, or at least he's supposed to be doing that, as that state gets ready for a big presidential primary on March 4th. My goodness.

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