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Auto Crisis Hits Midwest Hard; Man, Sons Suffer After Layoff; Resurrection of the Vampire; Dying Boy's Living Legacy
Aired November 22, 2008 - 23:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. We're going to start tonight with some high-profile, even shocking stories. Important not really because of the shock value, but because they all highlight children in crisis. Some with bigger issues, like mental illness.
First, a double murder. With the 8-year-old boy in this police videotaped interrogation, allegedly confessing to shooting his father and another man.
Then there's Nebraska, and a Safe Haven Law that lawmakers have amended to close a loophole, but some believe it was that same loophole that protected troubled kids.
And a suicide broadcast live over the Internet by a Florida college student who apparently felt he had no other recourse, but to take his own life in such a public manner. Three stories, disturbing for so many reasons.
And even tonight, more young people in trouble in the Seattle area. Police there are hunting for a gunman right now after a deadly shooting at a mall. The shooting sent people running for the exits. And Graham Johnson from our affiliate K.I.R.O. or KIRO is live on the scene right now.
Graham, tell us what the very latest is.
VOICE OF GRAHAM JOHNSON, KIRO CORRESPONDENT: Don, right now, that search is still going on some six hours after all of this began. Police are going through the Westfield South Center Mall as we speak. Going through every square inch of it, as much as they can reach anyway, trying to find this gunman. So far, they have still not found him. There have been people in the mall for many of these hours who are locked down in various stores.
They're now being let out and police are now saying it is probably likely that that gunman escaped the mall and is no longer here. But right now, expect to continue searching here for maybe another hour or so, hopefully less. And then call things off for the night. But right now, it appears as though that gunman is still on the loose.
LEMON: Graham, thank you much for your reporting on this story. Now, we want to go to Arizona where an 8-year-old -- that's right, 8- year-old is accused of murder. Police say he shot and killed his father and another man inside their St. Johns home. Adding to this troubling case, a controversial videotaped interrogation of the boy released by investigators. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: I need you to tell me -- we need you to tell the truth really, really bad, OK? So you don't have to be in bigger trouble, OK? So we need you to tell us the truth. Can you tell me the truth?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, also on the tape, the boy talks about firing the gun, but defense attorneys are already questioning why no parent or lawyer was present. Listen closely.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: And my dad probably went upstairs and fell on the floor. And I think I heard someone going upstairs, so I went upstairs and then I saw him.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: You saw who?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: My dad. So I think I got my gun and I shot him, so he wouldn't suffer.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: And I ran downstairs, and I saw (BLEEP) and he was shaking, and I didn't know what happened, so, and I think the gun went off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, stick around. I'm going to talk to an attorney about the many legal twists in this case. It's going to happen in about ten minutes.
Well, just yesterday, Nebraska Safe Haven Law was amended to apply only to infants less than a month old. And before the change, the law allowed parents to abandon children of any age, even teenagers. It seems unimaginable that a parent would do such a thing. What would even compel a mother to walk away from her own child? CNN's Sean Callebs has a close look at one woman who did.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A short trip through the doors of the Emanuel Medical Center E.R. in late September and Lavennia Coover surrendered custody of her 11-year-old son Skyler, protected by Nebraska's Safe Haven Law.
LAVENNIA COOVER, SURRENDERED CUSTODY: That night I gave Skyler a kiss and a hug and I told him that I loved him and I went home.
CALLEBS: She went home alone. Coover says she didn't want to leave Skyler in the hands of the state but testified before Nebraska lawmakers that her son was violent, bipolar, and she couldn't control him.
COOVER: He would kick at my face. When I tried to wake me up, he would hit at me and cuss at me and throw things at me.
CALLEBS: Social worker Courtney Anderson who has handled many safe haven kids says, think about the child.
COURTNEY ANDERSON, SOCIAL WORKER: Some children have been begging their parents or guardians not to leave. They might not really understand why they're being left at the hospital but they know they are being left and the parent or guardian might be fleeing.
CALLEBS (on-camera): The safe haven law is designed to protect infants when stressed parents feel they just can't take care of them, allowing children to be dropped off safely at hospitals. Unlike other states, Nebraska's safe haven law did not include an age limit. Well no one here thought so many children would be dropped off so quickly. Nearly three dozen in just a few months. And not one of them an infant.
BRAD ASHFORD, NEBRASKA'S STATE SENATE: We didn't think that it would be used to the extent it was. We didn't anticipate children coming from other states.
CALLEBS: Social workers say many kids dropped off have serious mental health issues. A lot end up in me Nebraska's boys town, the state home for boys started by Father Flanagan nearly a century ago and featured in the famous Mickey Rooney-Spencer Tracy film. The executive director of boys town today says Nebraska's law has exposed a dirty little secret.
REV. STEVEN BOES, DIRECTOR, BOYS TOWN: I think it shows that what's going on is there are parents who are so desperate to get their kids help that they just don't know what to do.
CALLEBS: Lavennia Coover still doesn't know what to do, saying she has become a target.
COOVER: I have endured judgment and criticism ranging from these parents do not want the responsibility anymore, to how could anyone abandon their child, to being accused of neglect.
CALLEBS: Despite discovering Nebraska's dirty little secret, state lawmakers say they will change the safe haven law to allow abandoning only infants less than 30 days old. And families like Lavennia Coover and her son Skyler will have to fend for themselves.
Sean Callebs, CNN, Lincoln, Nebraska.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Our thanks to Sean for that story. But each of these stories gets more disturbing than the previous one. So now we go to Florida, where a Web cam shows police arriving in this bedroom apartment in Pine Brook Pines where a young man apparently killed himself with a drug overdose. More than 1,000 people may have watched the online suicide.
About 12 hours earlier, the 19-year-old posted a suicide note and set up a streaming video. Police say some viewers thought it was a joke, while others egged him on. Someone did finally contact the site moderator who eventually called police. But by then, it was too late. The boy's father believes the Web cast was a cry for help and says he is appalled so many people simply watched his son die.
We want to know what's on your mind tonight about this story. All of these stories that we told you about involving young people and also about the economy -- your economy concerns. Log on to Twitter, to Facebook, MySpace or ireport.com and tell us what you're thinking. We'll get your responses on the air.
Meantime, life lessons taught by a dying boy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's left a legacy and he's 11. He's done more than most people ever even dream of doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Brenden's last wish touched people across the country. We'll look back on his life and look ahead at his legacy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: One of two murder charges could be dropped against the 8- year-old boy in Arizona. We told you about it at the beginning of this broadcast. He is suspected of shooting his father and another man to death earlier this month. And the county prosecutor submitted the motion in juvenile court to drop the murder charge in the death of the boy's father. No reason was given. But in a police videotape made public earlier, the boy talks about being mad at his father.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I was supposed to bring papers home today and I didn't, so then they hit me.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: Who hit you?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: My mom.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: Your mom hit you. OK, you got spanked?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Five times.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: Five times. And what about your dad?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: He's the one that told her to.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE: He did? So you were mad at your dad for that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, no plea has been entered on the boy's behalf. Somewhere during that same interview, the boy supposedly confesses to two shootings. Now, earlier I spoke with Attorney Andre Grant. Grant represented the youngest murder suspect ever in the United States. A 7 and 8-year-old accused of murdering an 11-year-old girl in the Chicago area.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Attorney Grant, have you had the chance to look at the alleged confession on tape of this little boy?
ANDRE GRANT, ATTORNEY: I have seen the tape of this little boy. Yes, I have.
LEMON: What do you think of it?
GRANT: I think that this tape will never be admissible in court. I think that it will not be admissible in court for a number of reasons. One, the most important part of the tape, and that is the police officers admonishing him of his rights, his right to remain silent, his right to an attorney. All of these things which are known as the Miranda rights, all of these things were missing from that tape.
And given that they never told this child what his rights are -- what his rights were, and obviously, he wouldn't have understood it if he was told that, this tape will not be admissible in court, in my opinion.
LEMON: Because there was no -- I've been reading, they said that there should have been maybe a criminal psychologist in or a parent in with the child at the time. So there was no adult or guardian with him. So that may lead to this being thrown out.
GRANT: That's correct. Every person, particularly a juvenile, has the right to have a parent, a guardian or a lawyer present at the time. There was no one there to guard this child's rights. There was no one there to speak up for this child, and certainly at 8 years old, he couldn't speak up for himself.
LEMON: OK. He did at one point on the tape though, Attorney Grant -- I guess it was confess or say that, yes, you know, I did it because I didn't want him to suffer. So there does seem to be some admission there from this one count now that's being thrown out. Can that come back into play and he be charged again with two murder charges?
GRANT: Well, of course, he can but there is a problem here. The Police Department has said, one, that this was a double homicide, this was a double murder. Two, they said that this was premeditated. And three, they said that this child was meticulous in carrying this out. So, it doesn't make sense to me on the one hand, you say it's murder, it's premeditated and it was meticulous. But at the same time, you throw one charge out. You don't dismiss the charge unless you can't prove that charge.
So, I think that there are some things going on that they haven't shared with us yet, and it may affect the other murder. I don't think the second murder is going to come back or the alleged murder is going to come back. I think before it's over, both of these murder charges are going to be dismissed against this young child.
LEMON: I see. You just answered my next question. I want you to talk a little bit more about this. Having represented the youngest murder suspect ever in the country, where do you see this case going next? Especially when it comes to this kid.
GRANT: I think ultimately that these charges against this child -- this child is going to be dropped for a number of reasons.
One, this confession will not be admissible, because it was not voluntary. It was not given with the proper people involved. There was no parent, no lawyer, no psychologist, nobody there to protect this child. Secondly, it is obvious that this child from this tape -- that this child is incompetent. That this child did not know and is not aware of the gravity of what was going on. He didn't have the intellectual or cognitive capacity to understand what was happening. And under those circumstances, it's not going to come in.
And I think ultimately that the case against this child is going to be dismissed, just like one of the charges have already been dismissed.
LEMON: If you were representing this child, what would you be doing now? Do you have any advice for his attorney?
GRANT: Well, I don't want to second guess the professional that's handling it. But what I do want to do is raise a red flag and say we must proceed with caution. The problem is always when you have no evidence to connect a person to the crime, whether they're an adult or a juvenile, when the evidence is not there, and you have an in- custody so-called confession that raises the probability that you have a false arrest and you ultimately would have a false conviction. So I think that the lawyers in this case need to focus on the circumstances surrounding which this child made this statement.
And as a society, we want to protect children. This is the case not only is this child on trial, but the criminal justice system in Arizona is on trial.
LEMON: So what if this -- you know, I mean, this kid could have done this. He doesn't know what he's doing. So then -- then, what happens in this case?
GRANT: Don, he has to know. He has to be competent. He has to be aware of the difference between right and wrong, and the gravity of taking a life. He has to know, you know, the right and wrong of it. So far, there is no evidence that he understood -- one, that he did it. I'm still not convinced that he in fact did this.
Children -- you know, you heard that expression children say the darndest things. I'm just not convinced that this child really knows what he is saying or that he in fact committed this crime.
LEMON: So even if he did do it, he doesn't understand what he did.
GRANT: He doesn't understand. Even during the interview, you saw his little legs. He was sitting on some kind of little chair or couch. His legs could not touch the ground and they were moving kind of pitter pat. This child has no idea what's going on.
LEMON: Andre Grant, thank you.
GRANT: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. So that's a legal opinion on this case. We want to go now to our iReporter. Doctor Katie Miley. She's a clinical psychologist in the suburban Chicago area. She joins us now here by computer, her Web cam.
So when you look at all these stories -- let's take the first one first, Doctor Miley. Let's talk about this 8-year-old boy who's accused of two murders, right? One would think, OK, if he did it -- maybe he did it, maybe he didn't. What would make an 8-year-old try to kill someone?
DR. KATIE MILEY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think you have to ask the question, whether he really would understand that using that level of force would kill someone and whether he's even capable of understanding how permanent death is. Developmentally kids of that age don't always completely understand that.
LEMON: Yes. So when you're looking at these cases, and I remember in the Chicago area, and I think you remember this, Ryan Harris case. An 11-year-old girl, and a 7 and 8-year-old boy accused in that case as well. And the same set of circumstances. The kids didn't have anyone out there, you know, there for them when they were with the police or what have you. But the same sort of things that come from that.
So, what is going on as a society for these cases, doctor? Can you speak to that?
MILEY: Well, I think one of the things that the research points to is certainly when kids are exposed to violence too much, they can really start to lose a real appreciation of what the potential consequences are.
So when you have simulated violence and there are no consequences, the more kids see that, the more confused they get that real violence has real consequences.
LEMON: I've got two more things that I want to talk to you about. I want to talk -- a really sad story. I mean, especially people watching someone die and imagine the pain that this person was in. This college student, 19 years old, taking his own life on a Web broadcast over the Internet. Talk to us about that.
MILEY: Well, I think one of the things that people often don't understand is that when someone is suicidal, it's more that they want to escape their pain than a real desire to die.
LEMON: So what do we do in those cases, though? What do we do as a society to help?
MILEY: Well, I think one of the best things people can do is to be open to somebody sharing that with them, as hard as it may be and to take it seriously.
LEMON: OK.
MILEY: Because it isn't just a cry for help in the sense of somebody doing something dramatic. They can end up acting on it, because they are in that much pain. And it sounds like some of the people watching the video maybe didn't understand that it was real.
LEMON: Yes. And who would think that someone would be doing that. Let's talk about the Safe Haven Law. We've had people all over the country driving -- people driving their kids to some places all over the country, thousands of miles, in order to give them to someone else. Why would -- why would a parent feel that that was the last option for them to do, doctor?
MILEY: In the late '80s, I worked in in-patient psychiatry, and there were a lot more options for families to get help for their kids. A lot of those options are going away. It's very hard for families to get the help they need, and mental health funding is getting very, very tight in many states. So when parents are desperate, there's not a lot of good options.
LEMON: I want to ask you this. Is it the economy all the way around that's with funding and what have you? So, is it spreading across the board?
MILEY: Yes. Absolutely. So when states don't take in enough tax revenues, governors, counties, have to start cutting services. It's happening all over Illinois.
LEMON: Dr. Katie Miley who joins us here occasionally. She is one of our frequent iReporters who will join us and watch us live on Web cam, and we appreciate you adding some context to the story for us. Thanks for staying up late, OK?
MILEY: You bet. You're welcome, Don.
LEMON: All right.
We also want to know what's on your mind and what you think the issue is here, about all of these issues. Log on to Twitter, to Facebook, MySpace or ireport.com. and tell me what you're thinking.
Let's talk now about Washington. The leadership vacuum. President Bush is in Peru. President-elect Obama is in Chicago. They both say they're working on the economy, but who is in charge here?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, the markets are closed and the holidays are just around the corner. But there's no rest for anyone worried about the nation's financial crisis.
For starters, federal regulators have taken over three more banks. Two in Southern California and one in Northern Georgia. That's 22 U.S. bank failures this year. The big three automakers are hard at work this weekend, trying to come up with a plan to convince lawmakers they deserve a bailout. Well, we're told GM's board of directors has ruled out bankruptcy as a viable option for the company and don't look to the markets for any optimism here. November has been dismal for stocks. The S&P 500 Index is down 20 percent since Election Day.
Well, the economic crunch is dominating President Bush's final months in office. He's at a Summit in Peru this weekend, where the leaders of 21 Asian and Pacific nations are working on ways to reverse the global slow down. Mr. Bush urged his fellow leaders to resist protectionism and to boost free trade.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We welcome new buyers for our products, and new investors for American enterprise. We welcome new competition that leads our own workers and businesses to be more efficient. In an interconnected global economy, the gains of any advance the interests of all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, back here at home in the United States, the president-elect is preparing for the day when the struggling economy is his responsibility. Barack Obama says his plan will create or save 2.5 million jobs by the year 2011. Now he talked about the challenges ahead in the Democrats' Weekly Radio Address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: While I'm pleased the Congress passed a long overdue extension of unemployment benefits this week, we must do more to put people back to work and get our economy moving again. We have now lost 1.2 million jobs this year. And if we don't act swiftly and boldly, most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Barack Obama warns there are no quick or easy fixes, and he says things are likely to get worse before they get better. And when President Bush on his way out, and President-elect Barack Obama in transition, there is a leadership vacuum right now in Washington. And it is causing a lot of uncertainty in the markets. CNN's Mary Snow takes a look at that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a sign of just how desperately the markets are looking for direction, stocks lurched higher gaining nearly 500 points on news that New York Fed Bank President Timothy Geithner would be tap as Barack Obama's new Treasury secretary.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: They needed some assurance from Barack Obama not only of what direction that he is going to be going in, but who is going with him? Who is going to be captain of the team, who were going to be the co-captains and the other players on the team?
SNOW: The rally follows a steep sell off this week triggered by a renewed sense of fear and continued uncertainty.
DIANE SWONK, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MESIROW FINANCIAL: We've got a lame duck Congress and a lame duck administration that have decided they no longer have a job to do.
SNOW: A major source of angst is whether the big three automakers will survive. After coming hat in hand to Capitol Hill and leaving with no resolution, Congress is taking a recess. Another question mark, what is next for the federal bailout program that outgoing Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson engineered.
ARTHUR HOGAN, JEFFERIES AND COMPANY: The unknown, Wall Street a pours it. You always see a sell off, you always sell on the news of Wall Street, and that is exactly what is happening right now.
SNOW: Obama has said there is only one president at a time, but the former presidential adviser David Gergen says it is up to Obama right now to lead from behind the scenes.
GERGEN: I think that he can push along a couple of things, a bridge for the automobile industry to ensure that it doesn't fall apart or go into bankruptcy before he becomes president, allowing himself time to think through what should the future of that industry be.
SNOW (voice-over): David Gergen says other potential action could be some sort of help to homeowners. Bottom line, Obama doesn't want to take office with an economy that is in total collapse.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, like any parents, moving to a new town, the Obamas are concerned about the right school for their children and the soon to be first family has made a decision on where 10-year-old Malia and 7- year-old Sasha will go. It is at Sidwell Friends School.
It is a private Quaker school in Washington. Chelsea Clinton is a graduate and Vice President-elect Joe Biden's grandchildren go there, too. We want to know what's on your mind tonight or this morning here in the East. Log on to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or ireport.com, and tell us what you're thinking. We'll get your responses on the air.
The heart break of America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no other choice but to go down, because there is nowhere to send the material.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How does that make you feel, sir, for your employees?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it hurts like hell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Sure does. One Ohio town prepares to lose its economic lifeline -- two days, two days before Christmas. We take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN, NEUGEBAUER, IREPORTER: OK, big three. Here's our deal. Take it or leave it. You get a bail out and you get the help that you need under one condition. You shut down all plants that are not in U.S. and bring those jobs back and give them to the American people. If you do that, then you can have your money.
JOHN DULAC, IREPORTER: As much as I'm against using taxpayer dollars to bail out private industry, I think it's important that we do it in this case with strict rules and regulations and new emissions standards that force the auto industry to retool their manufacturing lines, produce more fuel-efficient cars and create sustainable solutions to the driving pandemic.
JACK QUAVIS, IREPORTER: OK. Let's talk about the auto bailout. The big three need to get bailed out and come to our government for billions and billions of dollars. You know what I think? Let the oil companies do it. Let the three big go to the oil companies begging for money. Let's face it. If it wasn't for the auto industry, the oil company wouldn't be as big as it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much to our iReporters. And you can see the big-three bailout is one of the hottest topics among our iReporters and it's easy to understand why.
The U.S. auto industry has long been considered the backbone of the economy. The collapse of even one of the big three could be devastating. It's not just a number of people who work directly for Ford or for GM or Chrysler, it's all the peripheral jobs. The part suppliers, the dealerships, the vendors and the countless mom and pop businesses that rely on auto workers. By one estimate, the U.S. auto industry employees directly or indirectly 3 million Americans.
Well, the plight of the big three automakers has consequences far beyond Detroit. The rubber not meeting the road at a Goodyear tire plant in Lawton, Oklahoma. The factory is now rolling out fewer tires due to falling demand. It's an ominous sign of the times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE BOMGARDNER, LAWTON RESIDENT: It's the biggest employer second to Port Sale and that's where most of the people that have a higher incomes work at.
A.D. PRIVRATSKY, FORMER GOODYEAR WORKER: If the production slowed down this weekends, that wouldn't hurt much, as long as the plant stayed here. Because they have scaled down over the weekends before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, the plant says no layoffs are expected, at least for now.
I want to take you now to Moraine, Ohio, a trip you won't soon forget. The town is already hard-hit by layoffs at the local GM plant. Now it's set to see the plant finally close, two days, two days before Christmas. CNN's Gary Tuchman went there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When a decision is made in a skyscraper in Detroit, it could change life and towns far away, very badly and very quickly.
In the small town of Moraine, Ohio, near Dayton, it's easy to figure out what industry is the lifeblood here. That's even before you see this place, the GM plant, the town's dominant employer, where more than 4,000 people worked in its heyday and 1,000 now.
But a decision has come from Detroit. This factory is closing forever, two days before Christmas. What does that mean for the rest of this town? Cane Goodwin is a local union leader.
CANE GOODWIN: It's really bad, very bad.
TUCHMAN: At a different factory, the Jamestown-Lorraine plant, not owned by G.M., they store and transport car parts to the G.M. facility. Certainly, they can ship parts to other G.M. plants or other car companies, right?
TONY MURPHY, G.M. SUPPLIER EMPLOYEE: What am I going to do? That was my very first reaction.
TUCHMAN: One, Tony Murphy works here as a forklift driver. When that G.M. factory shuts its door in December 23rd, the plant where he works will also close forever. He and more than 60 others will have to find new jobs in a region where there are fewer and fewer. Have you started working for a job already.
MURPHY: Oh, yes. I've been to an interview before.
TUCHMAN: And how did they go?
MURPHY: I don't know. They haven't called me back, so I guess it didn't go too well.
TUCHMAN: The labor contract at the small supply plants has no provision for any severance. And the cheap medical insurance disappears the day after they walk out of the factory for the last time.
MINCHELLE WASHINGTON, G.M. SUPPLIER EMPLOYEE: I might end up losing my car. I don't want to lose my house, but I know I might end up losing my car.
TUCHMAN: Minchelle Washington is a single mother.
WASHINGTON: Drawings, Jade (ph) made a drawing at school.
TUCHMAN: A scared single mother.
(on camera): So what happens if you get sick or your daughter gets sick?
WASHINGTON: Really that's the bad part because, if I get sick, it's downhill because I have diabetes. And I've got enough medicine probably for an extra month after my insurance is gone.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Even for businesses that have nothing to do with cars, the future is frightening. The Upper Deck Restaurant and Bar right next to the G.M. plant used to be jammed every day at lunch. Now you can almost hear crickets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I used to have a bartender, plus three waitresses at lunch. Now, we have one bartender and she waitresses.
TUCHMAN: Back at the parts factory, the employees seem to understand why this man, the owner, is pulling the plug.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no other choice but to go down because there's nowhere to send the material.
TUCHMAN: How does that make you feel, sir, for your employees?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it hurts like hell.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): What the employees don't seem to understand...
Who are you angry at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The executives at GM.
TUCHMAN: ...are the decisions made in the skyscraper. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Moraine, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: We've been asking what is on your mind tonight, and if you're scared about this economy, here's some of your responses now.
Curiousnyc says "I have no job, lost mine in October, unemployment doesn't even cover rent and health insurance. Thanksgiving? Maybe we will get an invite?" With a question mark.
Jackola says, "I am a little worried but I am optimistic that these down times will give us the focus to usher in a better future."
Dlayphoto "My wife and I are scared. I work part-time job, wife is a medical student. Hard to live on part-time job and student loans."
We feel you. Keep your comments coming. Reach out to me on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or ireport.com, and we'll try to get as many of them as possible on the air for you.
A father goes to desperate lengths to try to raise money for his family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It must be difficult asking your boys to come out here with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is. Yes. It is very hard. I hate to see my kids suffer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A father/son outing that no father would ever want to take his kids on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. So this is a long shot or maybe a long slap shot. The St. Louis Blues Hockey Team will pay up to $4,000 in mortgage or rent for a few lucky fans. One winner will be chosen at each Saturday home match for the rest of the season. Well, the team says it's a way of thanking fans for boosting attendance despite a tough economy. Very nice of them.
No spare change for the Salvation Army's Red Kettle. No problem. The bell ringers have gone high-tech. Some Kettlers have even tricked out to plastic to take plastic. Check that out. Little machine, slides right there. Just swipe your card and you can be on your way.
What can only be described as a family's nightmare. A Phoenix man says he's had no choice but to start asking for handouts with his children in tow. From Phoenix, here is Peter Busch from our affiliate KPHO.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER BUSCH, KPHO CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you pulled up next to Robert Bosson today, the first thing you notice probably wasn't the 47-year-old man with a cardboard sign.
ROBERT BOSSON, UNEMPLOYED FATHER: I'm here like when people see you by yourself, people think that you are just going to buy drugs or liquor.
BUSCH: So to put food on the table, Robert swallowed his pride.
BOSSON: Those people will help us out.
BUSCH: And brought his two sons to the street corner with him.
BOSSON: Thank you very much.
BUSCH: James is 12. Matthew is only 8. Instead of learning in school --
BOSSON: God bless you guys. Thank you.
BUSCH: They're begging for money in the middle of Phoenix.
It must be difficult asking your boys to come out here with you.
BOSSON: Yes. Yes, it is. Yes. It is very hard. I hate to see my kids suffer.
BUSCH: Robert lost his truck-driving job two weeks ago. Next week, he could lose his apartment. At the Phoenix Rescue Mission, the dining hall is bursting at the scenes, filled with new faces.
NICOLE PENA, PHOENIX RESCUE MISSION: We're dealing with people that have never come to a shelter to a congregate feeding site. They have never needed a food box before.
BUSCH: Speaking of food, the boys were treated to McDonald's for dinner. It was the first thing they had eaten since yesterday. Dad mostly sat and cried, because he knows they'll probably be back tomorrow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: To other issue, the psychological impact of this economy on children. Something that needs to be delved into, as well. Life lessons taught by a dying boy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's left a legacy and he's 11. He's done more than most people ever even dream of doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Brenden's last wish touched people across the country. We'll look back on his life and look ahead at his legacy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. So it doesn't happen often in the south on this day. Maybe once every ten years or so in some parts. But it happened this week. Snow falling in some southern states as arctic air heads all the way into Florida. Some areas are seeing record lows for this date. CNN's Jacqui Jeras is keeping an eye on all the weather for us.
Jacqui?
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: All right. Brrr, Jacqui. Lining up for "Twilight." Even in tough economic times, vampires prove to be recession proof.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: America's appetite for blood has increased, thanks to the resurrection of vampire lure. CNN's Brooke Anderson is in Hollywood, where 21st century blood suckers have found a home on the big and small screens.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Say it out loud. Say it.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Vampires.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It`s not your grandpa's Count Dracula.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Aren't you afraid to be out here alone with a hungry vampire?
ANDERSON: Meet the new modernized vampires currently taking a bite out of entertainment. From the film, "Let the Right One In" and "Twilight" --
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: What if I am the bad guy?
ANDERSON: To television's "True Blood" on HBO --
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: You go first, vampire.
ANDERSON (on camera): Since Bram Stoker created Dracula in his 1897 novel, the popularity of the undead has been on the rise. Even theme parks like Universal Studios Hollywood have attractions like this house of horrors, featuring, you guessed it, vampires.
ERIC NUZUM, AUTHOR, "THE DEAD TRAVEL FAST": They are popular now. They were popular 50 years ago, 100 years ago, 1000 years ago. I think one of the reasons they are popular now is because it makes it possible for us to talk about things that may not be socially permissible like race and sexuality and things we might not want to admit about ourselves in the way we feel on these subjects. So we can put a pair fangs on them. And all of a sudden, it becomes OK to talk about it.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Do you know how many people are having sex with vampires these days?
NUZUM: Back in the 1920s and `30s what they thought this ultimate dark person would be was an Eastern European aristocrat, wearing a nice tux with a medallion, walking downstairs. And then if you look at our vampires today, they look like rock stars.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You brought a snack.
ANDERSON: Both "True Blood" and "Twilight" are based on bestselling novels. A sequel to "Twilight" is already in development.
Meanwhile, "True Blood's" weekly viewership is up to about 6.5 million per episode.
NUZUM: As long as there is evil in the world, as long as there are dark feelings in the world, as long as there are things we secretly lust after or are kind of ashamed to say we're afraid of, there will always be vampires.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Go on in, and good luck getting out.
ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Good show. I watch it.
Brenden's last wish. We've been telling you about this little, special little boy. His dying wish touched our hearts. And we'll tell you how people around the country responded.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: If you're up this late with us, you want to watch this story. It is about Brenden Foster. He did something few people can claim. He left the world better than he found it. He was only 11, but he dreamed very big. Here's Elisa Jaffe from our Seattle affiliate, KOMO.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENDEN FOSTER, DYING BOY: I should be gone in a week or so.
ELISA JAFFE, KOMO CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The day I met Brenden Foster, I met an old soul in an 11-year-old's body.
(on camera): What are the best things about life?
B. FOSTER: Just having one.
JAFFE (voice-over): I didn't understand how this child, a year younger than my own son could be so courageous facing death.
B. FOSTER: It happens. It's natural.
JAFFE: Three years earlier, doctors diagnosed Brenden with leukemia.
B. FOSTER: I was scared.
JAFFE: The boy who once rushed through homework so he could play outside was now confined to a bed.
B. FOSTER: I had a great time. And until it's time, my time is gone, I'm just going to keep having a good time.
JAFFE: Brenden's selfless dying wish, helping the homeless. But he was too ill to feed them on his own. So volunteers from Emerald City Lights passed out sandwiches in Seattle. People in Los Angeles held a food drive. School kids in Ohio collected cans. They gathered kids to feed the hungry in Pensacola, Florida and here in Brenden's hometown.
WENDY FOSTER, BRENDEN'S MOTHER: He's left a legacy and he's 11. He's done more than most people ever even dream of doing, just by making a wish.
JAFFE: Brenden's wish came true, and he lived to see it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has had the joy of seeing all of the beautiful response to his last wish. It gives him great peace, and he knows that his life has meaning.
JAFFE: Days before dying, Brenden surprised us all with a sudden burst of energy. He wanted off oxygen and out of bed to buy a video game. Wise beyond his years, but still a kid.
W. FOSTER: I have been so blessed to have this child. I -- a mother couldn't ask for a better son.
JAFFE: Bee man as his family calls his had another wish, to save the bees by sprinkling wild flower seeds. Packets of seeds will be passed out at his funeral. Before dying in his mother's arms, Brenden said he is amazed that a young boy could make such a big difference.
What gets you sad, sweetie?
B. FOSTER: When someone gives up.
JAFFE: Brenden Foster never gave up.
Thank you, Brenden.
Even at the end, Brenden kept giving.
B. FOSTER: Follow your dreams. Don't let anything stop you.
JAFFE: Elisa Jaffe, KOMO 4 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: Well, if you want to find out how you can help the hungry or get involved in a number of other worthy causes, just log on to cnn.com/impact.
Well, you probably remember from this election night. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But, one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She is a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election, except for one thing. Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: I was there when she cast her ballot. And I went back to see how she's doing. I want to share my dinner with Mrs. Cooper, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. So we've been asking what's on your mind tonight. And if you're scared about this economy. Here's what Atcad said, "Everybody I am reminded more and more everyday, I am reminded more and more that the Bon Jovi song, "Living on a Prayer" was about me. Better hold on to what you got."
Thank you very much for that. Make sure you keep your comments coming.
We have an update now on probably the most famous voter in the world now. 106-year-old Mrs. Ann Nixon Cooper. She said she wanted to stay alive long enough to vote for Barack Obama, and she did.
After our interview, President-elect Obama mentioned her in his victory speech, and earlier this week after calming down from the election, Mrs. Cooper invited a few friends of her friends, and me and a colleague, Audrey Irvine to dinner, and she kept us in stitches the whole night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Oh, what does that mean? Dinnertime.
ANN NIXON COOPER, 106-YEAR-OLD VOTER: Oh! Sorry, but right now we're busy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: She is very funny. You know, a CNN viewer sent a blanket to us to give to Mrs. Cooper and it has every picture of every single president in U.S. history with her guy, Barack Obama right there in the middle. So thanks to Mrs. Cooper and all of her friends and family. We certainly enjoyed it. Well, just minutes ago, in a special ceremony in Los Angeles, CNN announced our 2008 Hero of the Year. More than one million people voted among our top ten hero finalist and the winner is Liz McCartney, who has dedicated her life to helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Her non-profit group, St. Bernard Project has rebuilt dozens of homes in the New Orleans area. Liz will get a $100,000 grant as 2008 Hero of the Year. Congratulations to her and the rest of all of our CNN winners and heroes.
I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you back here tomorrow night 6 p.m. and also at midnight. Have a great evening.
