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Synagogue Bombing Plot; Dueling Speeches Spark Controversy; Inside Look at Supermax
Aired May 23, 2009 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Six ways to kill Piper.
It is not a new TV show. This is Piper, and her classmates found some creative ways to kill her. Wait until you see their video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to get personal about it now. All right. Listen, listen, sport.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: It is a feud that's getting everyone riled up.
Where to put the most notorious terror suspects? How about in your backyard?
Running from court-ordered chemotherapy, a teenager dying from cancer and nowhere to be found.
The news starts now.
Hello, I'm Randi Kaye in for Don Lemon.
We start with a story that takes bullying to a whole new level. Wait until you see this. A group of grade school girls create a cartoon of themselves killing a classmate in a half-dozen ways.
Elisa Hahn of our Seattle affiliate, KING, has the disturbing story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELISA HAHN, KING REPORTER (voice-over): The cartoon is called "Top Six Ways to Kill Piper." It includes depictions of five girls shooting her, making her commit suicide, even pushing her off a cliff.
BETH SMITH, MOTHER: I was horrified. I hope to find kids making jokes and it wasn't. It was death.
HAHN: Beth Smith says the cartoon targeting her daughter was posted on YouTube to a Hannah Montana song called "True Friend." Piper is a 6th grader at Elk Plain School of Choice. The girls who made the video attend the same school. PIPER SMITH, STUDENT: It was beyond funny stuff. I mean, it really, really hurt my feelings. I mean, if somebody could hate me that much to make a video about me like that, it would make me feel, like, really bad.
HAHN: Piper's mother contacted the parents of the girls who made the video. Some were shocked. Others were dismissive.
B. SMITH: One guy blew it off and said he was making dinner. Yes, he's busy making dinner right now. He would get back to us.
HAHN: The school district says because of privacy rules it can't say how the girls were disciplined.
KRISTA CARLSON, BETHEL SCHOOL SYSTEM: Since then, these students have expressed their remorse about this incident, and we do believe that Elk Plain has been and will continue to be a safe place for students to learn.
HAHN: Not knowing what happened leaves Smith frustrated because she wants to know her daughter is safe.
B. SMITH: My heart aches. I fear for her safety.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And in another case, why did an 11-year-old Georgia boy kill himself. His family says it was because he was repeatedly bullied at school. But a retired judge who led an inquiry into Jaheem Herrera's death denies that. Jaheem's family says he hanged himself last month because classmates at Dunaire Elementary School outside of Atlanta called him gay. But the school district said students called Jaheem's pink book bag gay and were confused about the word's meaning.
The retired judge says Jaheem's suffered the same amount of teasing as most of his peers, plus he was hit hard by the recent death of his grandmother. But plenty of other people reject her conclusions. Jaheem's family quickly denounced the findings and they plan to sue the school district.
A half-dozen African-American students in Wisconsin say they fear for their lives. This after racist death threats were scrawled on a bathroom wall at their high school. Some of the Whitewater High School students chose to stay home for the rest of the school year. The school district says it is working with police to step up security.
And in Texas, a follow-up to a heartbreaking story, CNN first told you about months ago. Mentally disabled people at a state school in Corpus Christi, forced by employees to fight each other. The shocking cell phone video outraged everybody.
Just listen.
(VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: CNN's Kyra Phillips had a chance to speak exclusively to George Brazil, one of those victims. By his side, his sister and guardian, Michelle, holding his hand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do you remember?
GEORGE BRAZIL, RESIDENT, CORPUS CHRISTI STATE SCHOOL: I remember it was real scary. I get real scared because I had dreams about it at night time.
PHILLIPS: I can just imagine it was scary. What do you remember about what those workers told you? Did they tell you what would happen to you if you told on them?
BRAZIL: I'd get stitches.
PHILLIPS: You'd get stitches?
BRAZIL: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Well, finally, some good news to tell you about in the shocking story. The state of Texas has agreed to spend $112 million to improve conditions at schools for the mentally disabled. So what George Brazil and others went through may never happen again.
Best-selling author and parenting educator Barbara Coloroso joins us live from Denver to weigh in on issues like this. She wrote the book "The Bully, the Bullied and the Bystander."
Barbara, good to have you with us.
BARBARA COLOROSO, PARENTING EDUCATOR: Thank you, Randi.
KAYE: In the kill Piper story, let's start with that one, which is at the top of the show. Would there have been some warning signs exhibited so parents know when kids like Piper are being cyber- bullied?
COLOROSO: Often there is, because cyber-bullying isn't usually the first attack a child experiences. Often the kids have isolated her at school or taunted her verbally, or shunned her in various ways in the lunchroom and the like.
But today, with cyber-bullying being what it is, it may indeed be the first time when somebody says, did you see what I saw on YouTube? And the poor kid had no knowledge of this. But we often see kids becoming sad and sullen, stomach aches, headaches, not wanting to sleep, or -- or going to sleep and not wanting to get up. Not wanting to go to school. And always having wanted to go to school before. These are signs that something is amiss.
KAYE: Why are we seeing such an increase in cyber-bullying among these middle-school aged kids?
COLOROSO: Well, we often see an increase in bullying in general, verbal, physical, and relational, all of which can be combined in cyber-bullying at that very vulnerable age 11 to 15. I called the un- aged.
They're not yet adults and they're not children anymore. And they want to be both. And so many things are happening in their lives. Now today, our children have small computers in their hands that double as a cell phone. And so it's very easy to send text messages, to target somebody with gross pictures, or as you saw these young girls being very creative attaching music to hand drawn figures and animating them. It is only a tool. The Internet is only a tool. The cell phone is only a tool.
What concerns me, in all of your stories, is that it's about being mean and cruel and using a tool to do it with. When you video the fight club with these young people who are handicapped is disgusting.
When you look at something --
KAYE: Well, a lot of people say -- a lot of people, Barbara, suggest that this type of behavior is learned at home.
Is that what you think?
COLOROSO: You have to be taught. You have to be taught to be mean. Conflict is normal, natural and necessary. Kids are going to fight. And next time they do I want you to say they're normal. But when children do a conscious, willful, deliberate, hostile activity that's intended to harm another human being and get pleasure from it, that makes it worlds apart from normal conflict.
That's contempt for another human being. And that's what those young girls were displaying. And that's what the -- the hate messages in the bathroom walls is displaying. And having young people fight and stand around and laugh at their pain is also mean and cruel. And that's what I want to get at. I don't care what tool you use. You don't be mean and cruel, and you don't write it off as boys will be boys, girls just want to be mean.
KAYE: Right.
Let me get your take on this Georgia case, quickly. This 11- year-old boy who hanged himself. The family says it was bulling. The judge rules it wasn't. It was about this pink backpack of his that he was carrying not him. What's your take on that ruling?
COLOROSO: I think we have turned a blind eye as a school to what was really going on. As I -- went back and researched the facts as well. This young boy had been targeted repeatedly. And it wasn't over just his backpack. He had been tripped. He had been choked. He had been ostracized, laughed at for the way he spoke. All of the same, getting pleasure from somebody else's pain. Which if you have a vulnerable child who is already different in any way, it can hit them even harder. And to just dismiss it and say, well, he is dealing with the loss of his grandmother, or dealing with being in a new school system, is to deny the impact of being mean and cruel on a child in a school.
Bullying, we ignore at our children's peril. All of our children, not just the target. But when kids send an e-mail on or they send a video on, they are the bystanders who are participating in being mean and cruel. And I have to be concerned if my kids in any of those roles.
KAYE: Right. This is a conversation that I'm sure you would like most parents to have at home with their children.
Barbara Coloroso, thank you so much for your time tonight.
COLOROSO: And thank you, Randi.
KAYE: The U.S. has arrested and charged many suspected terrorists in the year since 9/11. But the arrest this week of four men in New York marks a new strategy.
CNN's Susan Candiotti explains how authorities waited until the suspects acted before making the bust.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAY KELLY, NYPD COMMISSIONER: This is truly a textbook example of how a, a major investigation should be conducted.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is it a coincidence, a terrorism task force waited until four suspects allegedly planted a car bomb outside a New York synagogue before moving in? Hardly says one former U.S. attorney.
GUY LEWIS, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: I do think the department of justice, the FBI, they're learning from these past experiences, where the cases have been, many people would say thin to win.
CANDIOTTI: Legal experts cite these cases as examples. Outside Buffalo, New York, a group of home grown terrorists were convicted of being a sleeper cell after going to an al Qaeda training camp. The Manhattan no specific plans for an attack.
An upcoming case charges plotters in New York and Trinidad with scheming to blow up fuel tanks at JFK airport. But some legal analysts question whether they would have been able to pull it off.
In Miami, despite surveillance video, it took a mistrial and a deadlocked jury before prosecutors won some convictions over a plan to blow up targets including the Sears Tower. But if prosecutors have evidence that puts an alleged plot into action, mounting a defense becomes tougher.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: This case wasn't just talk about explosives. It was the actual deployment of what the defendants thought actually were explosives appears to make it a much stronger case.
CANDIOTTI: Legal experts say defense attorneys are likely to argue entrapment by an informant who instigated an alleged terror plot.
LEWIS: Yes they are on video. But you know what, they were entrapped.
CANDIOTTI: The FBI says no way.
JOE DEMAREST, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: They still had intention. They did leave the packages what they believed to be real explosives.
LEWIS: Law enforcement is doing really, within the law, whatever it they've got to do to get involved in these kinds of plots before they even have a chance to unfold. And thank goodness for that.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): In the years following the 9/11 attacks, some successful home-grown terrorism investigations involve some talk but little action. The latest case, authorities say, goes to a much different level.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney talking about terrorism, securing the U.S. and the future of Guantanamo. But guess what? They don't quite see eye-to-eye and we are breaking it down.
And running from chemo. There is still no sign tonight of this boy and his mom. But is it a crime to refuse treatment?
Also, Don may be off tonight, but of course we still want to hear what's on your mind. So do us a favor. Log on to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com. You can go to Don's account or you can tweet with me at Randi Kaye CNN. Tell me what you're thinking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: We are still getting fallout from the battle of the titans. This week's back-to-back national security speeches by President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney. One of the key points of contention -- is waterboarding terror suspects necessary to protect America?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know some have argued that brutal methods like waterboarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more. They undermine the rule of law. They alienate us in the world. They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America.
They risk the lives of our troops by making it less likely that others will surrender to them in battle. And more likely that Americans will be mistreated if they are captured. In short, they did not advance our war and counterterrorism efforts, they undermined them. And that is why I ended them once and for all.
DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would advise the administration to think very carefully about the course ahead. All the zeal that has been directed at the interrogations is utterly misplaced. And staying on that path will only lead our government further away from its duty to protect the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: I talked about these speeches earlier tonight with two people who have very different opinions. Chris Plante is a conservative commentator. And David Sirota is a writer who tackles issues from the political left.
I began by asking them about a former Bush White House official's reaction to both Dick Cheney and President Obama. And then all hell broke loose.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (on camera): I want to play for you, a sound bite from former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. A Republican, spoke to our John King about the two speeches. Listen to what he had to say. I will get your reaction right after.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You had the intelligence. You served in a very sensitive position in those days after 9/11. Do you believe we are less safe today because of steps taken by President Obama?
TOM RIDGE, FMR. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I do not.
KING: You disagree with Dick Cheney, then?
RIDGE: Yes, I disagree with Dick Cheney. But I also disagree with the approach both men are taking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: David, quickly weigh in here?
DAVID SIROTA, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Well, I think Tom Ridge is right. I mean, the idea that Barack Obama is endangering us by fixing this situation, I think is preposterous. I think Obama has a strong case to be made that us respecting the rule of law makes our country more safe.
KAYE: And Chris? CHRIS PLANTE, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: Listen, the rule of law was followed. There were legal opinions from a car load of different governmental departments. And the legal staffs there. It was briefed to Congress ahead of time as you just pointed out with Nancy Pelosi.
Look, it seems like not so long ago that we had the September 11th commission to find out what went wrong and who failed and why the attack was allowed to happen. Now the Democrats want to have a commission to find out what went right. Why we haven't been attacked. And they want to hold responsible the people that have kept the country safe for the last 7-1/2 years.
SIROTA: Well, I think there is a question about what happened. I think there's a question about what happened. And I think we should find out what -- what actually happen.
PLANTE: Let's find out. I agree.
SIROTA: And what's incredible to me is that there are people in the Bush administration, or former Bush administration, who don't want to find out, who don't want a legal proceeding.
(CROSSTALK)
PLANTE: Well, Dick Cheney, Dick Cheney. No, no. They don't want a witch-hunt in a politically driven.
Listen, we've got two counts of people in this country.
SIROTA: Semantics.
PLANTE: One camp of people wants to take down American whose have kept this country safe and protect al Qaeda. The other camp, Dick Cheney's camp wants to take down al Qaeda and protect Americans. You choose.
(CROSSTALK)
SIROTA: (INAUDIBLE) to have an investigation, looking into what happened is wanting to protect al Qaeda.
(CROSSTALK)
PLANTE: Close Guantanamo, give them lawyers.
(CROSSTALK)
SIROTA: We got past that in the 2008 election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: That was a fun conversation. So if the prison at Guantanamo is shut down, where should the detainees be held? In your backyard, maybe? Are facilities on the mainland secure enough? We'll take you inside Colorado's supermax prison -- and this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cry because of where I live. I may show that girl (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I pretend to ride a motorcycle to get away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wonder if they will invade my house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I try not to let it in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Kids in the middle of street violence. Now their poems are offering a creative outlet for their pain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: It is home to some of the most notorious criminals in the U.S. The federal supermax prison in Colorado. And if President Obama gets his way, it could be the next stop for some of the Guantanamo detainees once that detention camp shuts down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (voice-over): They call it the Alcatraz of the Rockies. Its setting may be picturesque, its reality is not. This is Supermax. The maximum security federal prison in Florence, Colorado. Oklahoma City conspirator Terry Nichols, Olympic park bomber Eric Rudolph, shoe bomber Richard Reid, Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and original World Trade Center terrorist, Omar Abdel-Rahman and Ramzi Yousef. They are all here. So is Zacarias Moussaoui, one of 33 international terrorists behind the wires and walls of Supermax.
But they are not permitted to mix. Inmates spend almost 23 hours a day locked behind solid steel doors in soundproof cells. The bed, desk, stool, made of concrete. The cell windows are 4 inches wide, and don't offer a view of the Rockies. Nothing is left to chance. There are soft, flexible pens to write with.
President Obama is confident that Supermax can hold Guantanamo detainees.
OBAMA: Nobody has ever escaped from one of our federal supermax prisons, which hold hundreds of convicted terrorists.
KAYE: Opponents say bringing Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. is asking for trouble.
SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: They have some 17 places in the United States where they would put these detainees. Now the problem with that is, that becomes magnets to, to terrorism.
KAYE: And there is another problem. Supermax is full. Last week, it had just one vacant cell. The union representing prison officers says it needs more staff and facilities. But in nearby Florence, they're not losing any sleep over the prospect of transfers from Gitmo. The mayor told the "Denver Post" this week, most of us own guns.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Chris Plante, David Sirota, I'm sure you guys are still fired up from our last segment there. Let's talk about the critics of this move.
They're arguing that moving Gitmo prisoners here to the U.S. would make the U.S. more vulnerable, will turn Colorado -- Florence, Colorado into a bulls eye, a target for terrorists -- is there anything the president can say to calm those fears, Chris?
PLANTE: I want to know what the difference is? You know we have got supermax at Guantanamo Bay, which is reserved just for terrorists. Why -- you know, if it ain't broke don't fix it. It's a solution in search of a problem. You know, go around the world and find a place to put these guys. Guantanamo is a pretty good solution. It has worked very well. This whole thing is just sort of a silly circle fest.
KAYE: David, what do you think?
SIROTA: Well, I don't think it's that. I mean, I think that what has happened at Guantanamo has been -- there have been questions whether it has been within the purview of U.S. code, of U.S. law.
Is there any way for Obama to quell the fears? I mean, I live near, relatively near -- I live in Denver, near the supermax prison. I have every confidence. And I think most Coloradoans have every confidence that people who come there are not going to escape.
And remember, I also used to live in Montana. The folks of Hardin, Montana, the city council up there with the big prison up there. They've actually said we want these prisoners if they're going to come to the U.S. to be here. So this whole controversy about how it's frightening, I think President Obama is exactly right. Nobody has ever escaped. We shouldn't be frightened about that prospect.
KAYE: Let me get --
PLANTE: Nobody has ever escaped from Guantanamo, and it's reserved for terrorist who have a special place in the world right now. They're not criminals. Now let's keep this in mind. They're waging war. They're Jihadi.
KAYE: These are accused terrorists.
PLANTE: You know what, German POWs weren't accused German soldiers. They were captured on the battlefield and they've been taken out of the battle. They've been Side lined. And all this waterboarding fluff is much the same. I've got to tell you. Three guys were subjected to frightening treatment and according to Vice President Cheney, thousands of American lives were saved.
On the other hand, President Obama orders Navy Seals to put bullets through three heads of three Somali pirates to save one life, and that's -- and nobody is asseverating over that. I don't understand the moral murkiness of all this. I really don't.
KAYE: Is there any convincing Congress to get the funds to close Gitmo. I mean, what does the president have to say. They say they want details?
(CROSSTALK)
SIROTA: I certainly think there is. I mean, I certainly think that there is. There is going to be a case to be made to close Guantanamo. The idea. Again, we're going back to the idea that we should trust Dick Cheney who says, Dick Cheney is the guy who led us into war, into the Iraq war on false premises. We should trust that what was done to the folks in Guantanamo got us -- saved thousands of lives is absolutely absurd.
(CROSSTALK)
SIROTA: It's made up by radio talk show hosts on the right like you. It is not substantiated by anything. The CIA has put (INAUDIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
PLANTE: Listen, listen, we're going to get personal about it.
(CROSSTALK)
PLANTE: All right. Listen, listen, sport. The Vice President Cheney took his advice, his intelligence, from the head of the CIA, George Tenet, who was appointed --
(CROSSTALK)
SIROTA: The CIA right now says that there was not actionable intelligence to save thousands of thousands of people.
(CROSSTALK)
PLANTE: Am I talking?
(CROSSTALK)
SIROTA: Made a talking point by right-wing talk show host like. And you can make an huff and puff and sigh all you want. And you can keep making up the lies. But the CIA instead...
(CROSSTALK)
PLANTE: Making up the lies.
SIROTA: The inspector general and CIA continue to --
(CROSSTALK)
PLANTE: All right. Excuse me, do I get to talk here, Randi, or am I going to be filibustered. KAYE: Just quickly, the last word before we end this.
PLANTE: President Obama...
(CROSSTALK)
SIROTA: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Just bumbling around.
KAYE: Come on, David, let him have the last word here.
PLANTE: President Obama redacted the truth, David. All right? You want truth. Release the documents.
SIROTA: The inspector general -- I agree with that.
PLANTE: You want the truth, let's put Nancy Pelosi under oath.
SIROTA: I agree with that.
(CROSSTALK)
PLANTE: Are you going to talk over me the whole time. I know. Keep repeating that.
Nancy Pelosi needs to go under oath. We need to release the unredacted version of the documents...
SIROTA: Absolutely. Absolutely.
PLANTE: ...as Vice President Cheney has said. And then we'll get the truth, that the Democrats on Capitol Hill are afraid of, not Vice President Cheney.
(CROSSTALK)
SIROTA: And the Bush administration is afraid of, too. I agree with you. You and I agree. We need as much information out here as possible.
Absolutely.
PLANTE: Very enlightened.
KAYE: All right. All right, gentlemen. We want to thank you both for being such good sports. We really appreciate it.
SIROTA: Thank you.
KAYE: Chris Plante, David Sirota, quite the fiery debate. Thank you.
A former South Korean president jumps off a cliff. We'll have the latest on the death of Roh Moo-hyun.
Also a boy with a deadly form of cancer that could probably be cured. So why is he on the run with his mom? And is it a crime to refuse treatment?
And would you try something like this if a guy was robbing your store? We'll show you more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: All right. Wait until you hear this story. Talk about bold. Store owner in Texas was determined not to get robbed again. So this is what he did. He attacked the assailant who pointed the gun at him. The store's surveillance camera caught the struggle. As the owner charged the would-be robber not once but twice. Another worker says he feared for his life when the gunman walked into the store.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUREN CHAPAZAIN, STORE CLERK: I thought I -- this my last day, last moment of my life.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You thought you were going to die?
CHAPAZAIN: Yes.
AMIN VENZY, STORE OWNER: He said nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You didn't say a word.
VENZY: Just action. Everything action. He showed me just his gun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The owner says he wasn't afraid of getting shot as he chased the gunman out of his store. Police arrested the suspect a short time later.
Amazing.
NASA is hoping the third time is a charm for shuttle "Atlantis." Its landing was scrubbed for the second day in a row because of rainy weather at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The next window of opportunity, just after 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time tomorrow morning.
"Atlantis" is returning from the final repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Weather permitting, you can watch the landing live right here on CNN.
And I guess that weather permitting, that's the key phrase there, Bonnie, isn't it?
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAYE: Yes. Florida did need some rain, but probably not that much.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right
KAYE: Yes. All right. Thanks, Bonnie Schneider.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
KAYE: South Koreans are in shock and mourning tonight because of the suicide of former President Roh Moo-Hyun. He had been at the center of a bribery and corruption investigation that tarnished his reputation as an honest politician. Roh left a suicide note on his computer this morning and then went for a hike with an aide. He jumped off a cliff near his home. Roh was president of South Korea from 2003 until 2008.
A British tabloid is accusing Buckingham Palace of poor security practices after one of its reporters was able to enter the palace garage without a security check. London's "News of the World" says one of its reporters paid a palace chauffeur for about $1,500 for access to the royal limos. The tabloid says the reporter even sat inside one of them. A Buckingham palace spokesman says officials are investigating.
Running from chemo. There is still no sign tonight of this boy and his mother. But is it a crime for him to refuse treatment?
And this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I cry because of where I live. I'm a strong black girl who survives the streets of Rochester.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I pretend to ride a motorcycle to get away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Words that will haunt you from the mouths of children. A 4th. Grade poetry assignment turns into so much more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Thirteen-year-old Daniel Hauser has a malignant tumor that needs immediate medical treatment. But his family has refused, choosing herbs and other natural remedies instead. When a court ordered chemotherapy, the boy and his mother fled. Now, everyone wants to know -- where is Daniel Hauser?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (voice over): If this man knows where his dying son is, he isn't telling reporters much. All he led on is that he believes his wife and son have left the country so 13-year-old Daniel Hauser can avoid court ordered chemotherapy for his cancer.
ANTHONY HAUSER, DANIEL'S FATHER: I think it was kind of a superb and moral thing.
KAYE: Anthony Hauser is cooperating, says the Brown County sheriff who late Wednesday night announced mother and son have been spotted in southern California.
SHERIFF RICHARD HOFFMAN, BROWN COUNTY, MINNESOTA: We just know that they did travel to the Los Angeles area.
KAYE: The sheriff says authorities believe Mrs. Hauser and her son are either heading to Mexico or may even already be there. FBI and Customs agents are helping in the search. The sheriff would not say where the tip came from, but, he says, he's confident it's them.
Investigators are trying to determine if the boy's mother, Colleen Hauser, even had a passport. Daniel's father told the judge he last saw his wife Monday evening. Daniel's father says he wants his son home.
HAUSER: Definitely love to see him.
KAYE: He even says now he'd be open to a combination of low-dose chemotherapy and alternative remedies.
Daniel was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in January and doctors say his cancer has spread. With chemotherapy and radiation, they say there's a 90 percent chance he'd survive.
The Hausers are a Catholic family, but like the Native American tribe they follow, the Nemenhah Band, they only believe in natural remedies. Mrs. Hauser explained before she took off.
COLLEEN HAUSER, DANIEL'S MOTHER: Like this is for fever, colic, viral recovery, amnesia.
KAYE (on camera): Instead of chemo, Daniel's father says he's been treated with pure oils and fungus killers. His diet -- fish, fresh vegetables, fruit and ionized water, which the family believes kills cancer cells.
They may have learned that from the founder of the Nemenhah Band who reportedly cured his cancer eight years ago using special mushrooms.
PHILIP LANDIS, NEMENHAH BAND FOUNDER: The basic premise and tenet that we adhere to is first do no harm.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Setting aside of course the legal and ethical questions for just a moment, the case of Daniel Hauser puts alternative medicine in the spotlight.
Joining us tonight is cancer specialist, Dr. Francisco Contreras, who is a recognized expert on combining both traditional and alternative therapies in treating cancer. He is also chairman of the cancer treatment facility Oasis of Hope in Tijuana, Mexico.
Good to see you, doctor.
DR. FRANCISCO CONTRERAS, ONCOLOGIST: Thank you very much for having me, Randi.
KAYE: Tell me, if Daniel Hauser is on his way to Mexico with his mom or maybe even already there, what type of alternative treatments could he actually get there?
CONTRERAS: I think there's a number of alternative therapies that could be offered for him. But in the case of Hodgkin's lymphoma there is no question that chemotherapy shines. The problem is that the side effects can be brutal. And I think that what happened is that after his first dosage, the mother just felt that the chemotherapy would probably kill Daniel, and she opted not to take it anymore.
And so the problem in most of these cases is that the patient is not fully prepared for the chemotherapy and many alternative therapies can do that and diminish the onslaught of chemotherapy by the patient not responding so harshly to it.
And we've had several cases like that at our clinic. We have been able to convince the parents that chemotherapy is the best. And when combined with alternative therapies, the side effects are diminished and we've been very, very successful.
KAYE: Take me very quickly if you can through your total care approach that you use at your clinic.
Well, we not only take care of the physical needs of our patients but also the emotional and spiritual needs. And I think that when you combine all of those together, the patients are more apt to receive a harsh therapy and have better results.
We have been very, very successful in treating Hodgkin's lymphoma with a combination of therapies like this, and the patients suffer very little side effects.
KAYE: I've been reporting on the story now for a couple weeks. And a lot of people have asked me, this family is giving their son vitamins and ionized water and fresh vegetables, does this stuff really work? I mean, can this really be better than chemotherapy?
CONTRERAS: There's no question that some patients will respond, but -- now, in Hodgkin's lymphoma, there's between 80 percent and 90 percent chance of cure with chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
And I am sure that no matter how good alternatives are, they will not report that high of a percentage. And that's why I believe that in this case, a combination therapy should be given to Daniel.
KAYE: And just for future reference, can alternative treatment work with any kind of cancer or just specific types of cancer?
CONTRERAS: Well, there are some cancers that respond better to alternative therapy. For instance, cancer of the lung, where 95 percent of the patients die within the first 12 months, we have about 30 percent survival rate at five years with a combination of alternative therapies. And so in this case, alternative therapies are better. But for most cancers, I believe, a good combination is in order.
KAYE: Dr. Contreras, thank you so much for your very valuable information tonight. We appreciate it.
CONTRERAS: Thank you very much.
KAYE: Have a good night.
CONTRERAS: Thank you.
KAYE: A former soldier was down on his luck, but he did not give up. Now, he's helping homeless vets find a home. He's our hero. You'll meet him.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I cry because of where I live. I'm a strong black girl who survives the streets of Rochester.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I pretend to ride a motorcycle to get away.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I wonder if they will invade my house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: It started as a 4th Grade writing assignment, but turned into so much more. The words are disturbing especially since they come from the mouths of children.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: This Memorial Day weekend, we're bringing you inspiring stories of veterans who are making a difference in the lives of those who have served or continue to serve their country.
Tonight, CNN hero isn't just helping vets, he is fighting a shocking statistic -- one in three homeless adults in the U.S., one in three is a veteran. Roy Foster used to be one of them.
ANNOUNCER: This is "CNN Heroes."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROY FOSTER, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: I actually joined the army right out of high school. I became introduced to alcohol. And once I was out, it was just simply drinking and drugging. And I would then stay in the streets. I was looking for a safe haven.
The places that I was introduced to were no better than on the streets. It was humiliating. That's when the commitment in my heart, it was born.
How can I turn my back and walk away and leave you right here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't?
FOSTER: I can't.
Nationwide veterans are neglected, homeless, unacceptable.
What branch of service?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Army.
FOSTER: Army. So was I. We are still brothers-in-arms. So, no man left behind.
My name is Roy Foster, and my mission is to help and empower homeless veterans. If you're going to work for a sobriety, you got to change.
Stand Down House provides service for veterans only a safe, clean place to live, all their meals and to have services. The camaraderie, it is that internal glue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I got back from Iraq, it was difficult for me until I met Mr. Foster who helped me.
FOSTER: Tell him one of his brothers-in-arms came out looking for him and let him know, yes, we will be back.
They are the best and they deserve the best. What I do, I love. I love it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Kids in the middle of street violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: This is where I live. I'm a strong black girl who survives the streets of Rochester.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I pretend to ride a motorcycle to get away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Now their poems are offering a creative outlet for their pain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: It started out as a 4th grade poetry writing assignment, the result -- words so powerful on a subject so troubling. It's a story that has to be told.
From Rochester, New York, here's Maureen McGuire of our affiliate, WROC.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I hear gunshots at my door -- bang, bang.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I wonder every day if I will get shot.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I hear bullets telling me to run as fast as I can.
MAUREEN MCGUIRE, WROC AFFILIATE REPORTER (voice over): They're the voices of children.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I cry because of where I live. I'm a strong black girl who survives the streets of Rochester.
MCGUIRE: Reading their own words.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I pretend to ride a motorcycle to get away.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I wonder if they will invade my house.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I try not to let it get to me.
MCGUIRE: Poetry from the heart of the city.
This spring, something remarkable happened in Heather O'Reilly's 4th Grade class at School Number 6. A routine lesson on writing poetry produced results no one was expecting. These 9 and 10-year- olds wrote about what it's like to live on streets riddled with crime and poverty.
HEATHER O'REILLY, 4TH GRADE TEACHER: It had a lot to do with the violence in this community more so this year than in previous years. And kids that weren't normally my best writers came out with some very moving pieces.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: My old man survived the streets of the gangs. I wonder if I will live long enough.
MCGUIRE: Jahmeic Hunter and Taivon Phipps are just two of these extraordinary poets. Both live in the shadow of violence.
(on camera): Some of what you write in that poem is kind of scary stuff. Do you know that? Why did you write about that?
JAHMEIC HUNTER, 4TH GRADER: It was scary. I used to live and walk in tears.
MCGUIRE: Yes?
HUNTER: They used to shoot at each other.
TAIVON PHIPPS, 4TH GRADER: My uncle heard that shot nine times. And then, after that, the man who shot him came, and shooting at our doors.
MCGUIRE: What did you do? PHIPPS: I used the phone to call for help.
MCGUIRE: You called for help? Who did you call?
PHIPPS: The police.
MCGUIRE (voice over): And no one's more moved by these kids than the police who patrol their neighborhood.
PHIPPS: I want to see the blue and white.
MCGUIRE: Not long after the poems were written, Officers Manny Ortiz and Angel Vasquez were invited to school to listen.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I worry that I won't see life the way I want to. I cry because of where I live.
OFC. MANNY ORTIZ, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK POLICE: That's the worst part of our job -- to see kids, anyone, particularly about this to see children in the way the violence, you know, affects them.
MCGUIRE: And so a poetry reading turns into a talk about dreams for the future.
OFC. ANGEL VASQUEZ, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK: You may want to be a writer some day. End up writing news stories for them, for Channel 8 or for the newspaper. I mean, anything. You know, if you continue to write the way you're doing now, you're going to -- there is nothing that can stop you.
O'REILLY: At the end of the day, everything that they've been through, they are just kids. I think they get the bad rap that the city district in the school, the kids, they don't know how to learn that they're not respectful and they are.
MCGUIRE: So are you going to keep writing?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.
MCGUIRE: I hope so.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I say my prayers to God. I dream that the violence will stop trying to get in.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I hope one day I could leave this place.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I try to stop people from fighting. I hope the fighting stops.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I hope that my dreams will come true.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I am a man that survived the streets of the gangs.
MCGUIRE: Maureen McGuire, News 8 Now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Deep in debt but not alone. One woman cuts down her credit card debt and maybe you can, too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: The recession is causing more of you to become delinquent on your credit card payments. We talked to one woman who is paying down her debt with a little help. And it's something you can do, too.
Here's CNN's John Zarrella.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Last summer, Maria Calderon was overwhelmed with credit card debt.
(on camera): So you had what -- one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine different credit cards?
MARIA CALDERON, PAYING OFF HER DEBT: Yes. Yes.
ZARRELLA: And you had -- when you went to them, you owed $21,000.
CALDERON: Yes.
ZARRELLA (voice over): She was laughing about it when we talked to her in February. But last August, she was so worried about her debt, she couldn't sleep.
CALDERON: Nights crying, thinking, I say, God, help me. And now I can say, thank you.
ZARRELLA: Thank you because she found help.
Maria called Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Palm Beach County.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you talked to the creditors?
ZARRELLA: CCCS is a nonprofit agency that counsels people in financial trouble. Maria's counselor negotiated lower interest rates with her creditors and put her on a repayment plan.
JESSICA CECERE, CCCS OF PALM BEACH COUNTY: This plan helps her get control of her debt so that she can repay her debt within 36 to 48 months, three to four years.
ZARRELLA: Credit advisers say choose your counseling program carefully.
STEVE BUCCI, AUTHOR, "CREDIT REPAIR KIT FOR CONSUMERS": First, it should be a nonprofit agency. Second, it should be absolutely free to get your counseling and to get your advice. And third, you ought to make sure that the agency is accredited and the counselors are certified by independent third party. ZARRELLA: With her repayment plan, Maria sends about $300 less each month to her credit card companies.
How does it work? Lower interest payments mean more of Maria's money goes to paying off her balance.
(on camera): Just under 10 percent now, right?
CALDERON: Yes.
ZARRELLA: And what were they charging you before you went to the consumer credit card company?
CALDERON: Well, this specific one, I believe it was 23 percent.
ZARRELLA: Twenty-three percent.
CALDERON: Yes.
ZARRELLA (voice over): In February, Maria told us she wanted to buy a home when she paid off her debts and she hoped this experience would teach her children to make smart financial decisions in their lives.
(on camera): Just to be clear, Maria did pay a monthly fee to participate in the debt repayment program. Since we first spoke with Maria, we've learned she has run into some financial troubles. The Consumer Credit Counseling Service tells us that due to circumstances beyond Maria's control, her income has been reduced and she is no longer able to make her payments.
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: So many of you had a lot to say tonight. So many tweets coming in. We want to share a few before we go. Take a look at our board.
This one from Birdy, "Johns Hopkins is finally telling the truth about cancer. Chemo kills. They recommend supplements, oxygen therapy and alkaline metabolism."
And Dr. Thema, "Bullying can lead to depression, anxiety, school phobia."
And PTSD, "It's dangerous. Schools need to educate and enforce policies."
Be sure to keep your comments coming. We love to hear from you.
I'm Randi Kaye in Atlanta. "EXTREME CHALLENGES: AN AC 360 SPECIAL" begins right now.
