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Three-Time Champion Boxer Vernon Forrest is Dead; FBI Tracks Down One of Its Most Wanted Suspects; Battle on Health Care Rages On; Sarah Palin Completes Last Day in Office

Aired July 26, 2009 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: He was a champion in the ring, but no match for deadly gunfire. Former three-time boxing champ Vernon Forrest is dead in Atlanta. We're awaiting autopsy results.

And Alaska Governor Sarah Palin steps down tonight. We'll go live in Alaska, as she completes her last day in office.

And they got their man. The FBI tracks down one of its most wanted suspects. A CNN exclusive and you can go along.

Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Democrats say they are making progress but republicans say it is time to start over. CNN's Kate Bolduan has the latest on the administration's fight for health care reform.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All but certain to miss President Obama's August health care deadline, the administration is pushing ahead, putting on the pressure and putting on a good face.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president believes we are making progress and as long as we are making progress, that is a very good sign on an issue we have been debating for 40 years.

BOLDUAN: However, one key democratic senator acknowledges they can't go it alone.

SEN. KENT CONRAD, CHAIR. SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE: There are not the votes for democrats just to do this on our side of the aisle.

BOLDUAN: But the republican support democrats need, they don't have.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, SENATE MINORITY LEADER: The only thing bipartisan about the measures so far is the opposition to them.

BOLDUAN: Major divisions remain. Among them, how to pay for the health care overhaul. One cost-saving idea gaining steam is a tax on insurance companies for high-end policies, so-called Cadillac plans. The White House says President Obama is listening. DAVID AXELROD, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: He said that it's an intriguing proposal. We are looking at that. But we are waiting for the committees to finish their work.

BOLDUAN: But critics, including republican Senator Jim Demint says such a tax isn't a savings at all much, the burden would simply be passed on to employees.

SEN. JIM DEMINT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I can tell a lot of these folks have not been in business. You tax the insurance companies, it is going to affect the cost of every policy.

BOLDUAN: This weekend, the Congressional Budget Office weighed in on another cost-saving proposal. In a letter to the House majority leader, CBO writes, "the White House plan to create an independent panel to rein in Medicare spending would save a modest $2 billion over 10 years, a drop in the bucket considering the estimated trillion-dollar price tag for health care reform."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Kate Bolduan joining us now from the White House. So what is the White House response to this CBO letter?

BOLDUAN: Well, Fredricka, the White House is pushing back against this assessment, very simply, saying that their proposal, this proposal was never meant to generate great savings in the short term. CBO's letter does say that there could be substantial savings down the road.

WHITFIELD: And is the president worried about losing momentum on health care?

BOLDUAN: The White House will say no. I mean, with the recess coming up, the concern, you know, out there is will the White House be losing momentum in this month off as Congress heads back to their district but the White House will say, no they're not worried. They want to get this right. They don't necessarily want to get this done quickly. But, you know, the month, this month off, could pose some trouble for the White House generally. I mean, if you look at it, it gives opponents of the legislation that is kind of taking shape right now, it gives them time to highlight and campaign against the portions that they simply don't think are correct.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kate Bolduan at the White House, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

WHITFIELD: All right. One young man diagnosed with leukemia and without health insurance, now the bills are piling up. His story is coming on later on this hour.

And vice president Joe Biden, known for being blunt and sometimes off message is making waves with some comments about Russia. He has just completed a trip to two former soviet republics, Georgia and Ukraine. And in a "Wall Street Journal" interview, he suggested that America should take a tough stance in negotiations with Russia because Russia is weak, he said. He said, "they have a shrinking population base. They have a withering economy. They have a banking sector and structure that is not likely to be able to withstand the next 15 years" he says.

The Obama administration has been trying to improve relations with Russia and Russia calls the vice president's comments perplexing. A Kremlin official asks, "who is shaping the U.S. foreign policy, the president or respectable members of his team?"

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed both the vice president's remarks and the mission in Afghanistan today. She appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't think that's at all what the vice president meant. I mean, remember, the vice president was the first person in the administration in an important speech which he gave in Munich, Germany, shortly after President Obama's inauguration, that we wanted to reset our relationship with Russia. And we know that that's not easily done. It takes time. It takes trust-building. And we want what the president called for during his recent Moscow summit. We want a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia. So, the Taliban, which is, I believe strongly, part of a kind of terrorist syndicate with Al Qaeda at the center, is now under tremendous pressure, and I think that's in America's national interest.

Now, I have to add, nobody is more saddened than the president and I by the loss of life of our young men and women and no one is more impatient than we are to see the results of this sacrifice bear fruit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And more now with what's going on with Afghanistan, the tortuous waiting game for the family of the U.S. soldier captured by Taliban militants there. Private Bowe Bergdahl was taken captive in Afghanistan several weeks ago. The militants are threatening to kill him if foreign troops continue operating into eastern provinces. U.S. troops are trying to find Bergdahl. CNN's Ivan Watson reports from Helmand province, Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The search is on. The story about how this American soldier was captured, it is still kind of fuzzy. There are different accounts that the Taliban has given, that the private gave in his hostage video and the U.S. military have given. The basic facts are that he went missing at the end of June and he was declared captured probably by the U.S. military around July 2nd. And he has been missing since then.

I think one of the remarkable things about this, Fredricka, this conflict in Afghanistan has been going to on for nearly eight years, eight years since the Taliban was overthrown. The remarkable thing is that we don't have previous cases of American soldiers being captured alive up until this point. That is really remarkable. Of course that is not going to help this young man who has been taken hostage and unfortunately, the insurgents have been known to kill their captives in the past. That's going to be threat for this young man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Ivan Watson reporting there.

The White House has a packed schedule this week. It kicks off with opening remarks at the first annual U.S-China strategic and economic dialogue, two days of high-level talks on the economy, the environment and security take place in Washington. And then on Tuesday, the president will take health care questions from the country's biggest retirement association during a tele-town hall meeting with AARP members.

And the push to pass health care keeps going on Wednesday with events in North Carolina and Virginia.

All right. Overseas, a blitz of diplomacy in the Middle East. Defense secretary Robert Gates is on his way to Israel right now. One of his missions, to reassure Israel the U.S. hasn't softened its opposition to Iran's nuclear program. Later, Gates will be visiting Jordan, special envoy George Mitchell already in the region for talks.

All right. More human remains discovered, the site, another suburban Chicago cemetery. Three people claimed their relatives' bodies are stacked in graves there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All of France is chattering over today's medical mystery involving the French president. Nicolas Sarkozy was rushed to a military hospital outside Paris when he fell ill while jogging. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Paris and he joins us by phone. Also, Dr. Gupta what do we know about what made Sarkozy collapse?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Well, you know, we are not sure yet, Fredricka, and I am here in Paris. A lot of people talking about this here. A couple of things that are important to know from a medical standpoint it sounds like he was jogging, exercising at the time, had had been exercising about 45 minutes. I was at the Tour de France, and I can tell you it was a pretty hot day today, fairly humid. That seems to be the most likely culprit here, it was just the heat exposure.

They say he had a dizzy spell but did not lose consciousness, which was an important detail they gave to us, not that long ago. He was taken by helicopter to the hospital. He was in Versailles at the time, taken to the hospital near Paris and they had all sorts of tests done, including blood work, including an MRI scan of the brain, including EKG, looking for heart abnormalities, exactly what I would expect to be done. And what we are being told right now is the tests came back normal. So this could frankly be a fainting spell, Fredricka, caused by heat.

WHITFIELD: Oh, and something fairly common even for someone who exercises as much as he does, because apparently, he is quite an avid jogger and even biker?

GUPTA: Yes, you know, I would stay that it's common in a sense that obviously a lot of people run in the heat and, you know, people who are obviously in better shape are more tolerant of these sorts of things but if you look at why fainting occurs, it's one of the more common reasons. Maybe he didn't have enough fluids, for example, enough water, he could be slightly dehydrated, those sorts of things.

What is crucial when someone start to have a dizzy-type spell or a fainting spell is that you look at both the heart and the brain. Was there - did the heart not work properly for some reason? Was there not enough on the blood pressure to give blood to the brain? And you got to make sure those things are OK right away, which is why these tests are being performed. If those tests are normal, you start looking at things that are less serious and more common, such as dizzy and fainting spells.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. And also you mention you are there for the Tour de France. I understand you are have a chat with Lance Armstrong?

GUPTA: Yes.

WHITFIELD: We are going to be seeing those reports tomorrow morning, correct?

GUPTA: Yes. I just talked to him, it was a fascinating discussion. I tell you, Fredricka. He - I sit on the board of the Live Strong organization. I've known him a long time. It was a big deal for him to decide to come back to racing after four years, he is 38 now. And you know, it was just fascinating to hear how a professional athlete thinks in situations like this and why he did it and he was third place, was that good enough for him? You know, that is what we talked about.

WHITFIELD: Oh, well it is good enough for most of us, right?

GUPTA: I don't know how they do it literally climbing uphill with these bikes it is remarkable.

WHITFIELD: He's amazing. What an amazing athlete. All right. We look forward to that interview tomorrow morning -

GUPTA: Thanks, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Beginning on AMERICAN MORNING. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much from Paris.

GUPTA: Thank you. WHITFIELD: All right. Back here at home, Michael Jackson's autopsy report maybe released this week but the attention right now is on the Los Angeles coroner's office. Investigators are looking into whether employees there illegally leaked information about Jackson's death. Gruesome details about his corpse were published by tabloid papers only days after he died. The sheriff is conducting a preliminary inquiry to determine if there is enough evidence to launch a full investigation.

Another Chicago-area cemetery is under investigation. For weeks now, there have been allegations that workers at the Burr Oaks Cemetery in suburban moved bodies and resold the graves. Well now there are allegations that the same thing happened in another suburban Chicago cemetery. Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens in Glenwood, a human bone was found lying on the ground there Friday and a family that had relatives buried there have now filed suit.

All right. Getting health care to those had who might need it the most, African-American men. And how the Tuskegee test trials of years ago could be impacting the delivery of health care today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's find out what the work week weather might be like. Jacqui Jeras in the weather center. A lot of alliteration there, huh? WS and JS.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: How many more can you come up with? I will check you after that and see what you got.

Hey, stormy Sunday, how about that one for you?

WHITFIELD: That's nice.

JERAS: It's not the workweek but it is today. And that's a lot of what we have been dealing with across the northeastern corridor. There you can kind of see the watches which are in place, includes Baltimore, Richmond, Washington, D.C. and now another new watch here through Philadelphia, New York City and just kind of sneaking into the Boston area as well. Now, large hail, damaging winds are going to be the primary concern with these storms but as always, whenever that severe weather threat is out there, you could be seeing an isolated tornado or two. So be aware of that. You can see a lot of the development is out west and then the storms are moving into an atmosphere that is increasingly unstable.

So we are going to continue to see this throughout the afternoon and evening. And the downpours are going to be extremely heavy. In fact, we could see as much as an inch and a half per hour, so flash flood watches have been posted throughout much of the area as well. You can see through New England and stretching down even into the Appalachians area.

Let's go ahead and show what you is going on at this hour into New York City. There is Lady Liberty. And it's kind of a fuzzy view, kind of a hazy view. We are expecting the storms to continue to increase in intensity and move on in, probably even within a half an hour or so from now. So be aware of that and we do expect to see that rain continue. If you are trying to travel this has been the biggest problem here. Look at this over an hour, pushing two hours at JFK, Newark over an hour, Boston in on the action as well as Atlanta. We expect those times it to increase, not decrease, unfortunately. Yes, some of these is going to linger into your Monday commute as well.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.

JERAS: Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks for the warning, Jacqui. Appreciate that.

OK. Sarah Palin, full of surprises, right? Well, remember the day she announced she was calling it quits? Remember that? Well today is the day. We are in Alaska asking how the people there feel about her sudden departure. Last day of work, today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, the most trusted name in news. Now back to CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: And now an update on some of our top stories.

The police officer who arrested a Harvard professor reacts to President Obama's latest efforts to play down the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you satisfied with how the president handled this?

SGT. JAMES CROWLEY, CAMBRIDGE MASS. POLICE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are? What about the beer? Are you going up to the vineyard?

CROWLEY: I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. President Obama has offered to sit down with Sergeant James Crowley and Professor Henry Louis Gates to discuss things, maybe even over a beer at the White House. Gates says he is willing but it looks like Crowley might be thinking about it still.

All right. Democrats say they are making progress on health care legislation but most now can see that they won't be able to pass anything before President Obama's August deadline. Republicans say they should start over from scratch.

And French president Nicolas Sarkozy is in the hospital. Aides say he became ill while jogging. Doctors are doing test now to determine the exact cause. The health care debate has put a spotlight on uninsured Americans. Some of them are younger Americans who don't think they actually need insurance. As CNN chief national correspondent John King reports, that can be an expensive mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gregory Rose is seven months into his new life. The feeling invincibility that comes with being 23, shattered, and even a few simple steps became unbearable.

GREGORY ROSE: Each step from my back to the ball and socket in my hip was like on fire. Grinding. I know that kind of pain I've never felt like that before. They tested my blood and my white blood cell count was over 62,000 which for a normal person is 5 to 10.

KING: Leukemia, diagnosed finals week. A shock to a young man whose plan is to pay down his student loans then worry about health care.

ROSE: Being healthy, I figure going a little ways without health insurance should be OK but got caught.

KING: The JPS Cancer Center is part of a Fort Worth area public hospital network that has not only given Rose care, including five cycles of chemotherapy but also helped him navigate the dizzying health care bureaucracy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you able to pay the bills your check for the most part?

ROSE: Just (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible). OK.

KING: First Medicaid, then social security disability payments. Next, a painful lesson. In Texas, a modest income from social security put Gregory over the limit to receive Medicaid.

ROSE: Now I have no insurance again.

KING: No insurance, but a bagful of medications that run more than $5,000 a month.

ROSE: Every day. Every day.

KING: And the prospect if the cancer comes back of much more daunting expenses.

ROSE: The bone marrow testing alone costs like $300,000. That's just the testing part of it. At least that's what I was told.

KING: 800,000 patients pass through JPS every year. Fewer than seven percent of them have private health insurance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got surgery to three.

KING: Those here who do have coverage are likely on Medicare and Medicaid and when JPS CEO Robert Early, the chief of medicine Dr. Gary Floyd hear the president promised to squeeze billions of savings from those federal programs, they worry, and among other things, it could exacerbate an already acute doctor shortage in Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Texas, we have a significant problem with Medicaid. Only 38 percent of our physicians participate in Medicaid programs. So, if we start squeezing the payment rates down or freezing them, we are going to see fewer and fewer physicians who will want to participate in those programs.

KING: While public hospitals like JPS see the bulk of the uninsured, Dr. Cara East also sees a steady flow when Baylor Medical Center in Dallas advertises for new clinical research studies.

DR. CARA EAST, BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: They will come to us knowing they have high blood pressure, knowing they haven't been on medicine for two years and absolutely the trial will provide those medicines so that is an option for that person. We even had a gentleman come to us one time who didn't have health insurance on and I always ask him, well you know, Charlie, why don't you have that? And he - I said what do you do? He runs an insurance agency. And I went what? He said, well I can't afford it.

KING: Gregory Rose proudly displays a sign of his political allegiance but as he watches the debate in Washington, he is more and more frustrated.

ROSE: Typical Washington fight.

KING: His first reflex is to blame republicans but Rose knows democrats not only have the White House but big majorities in the House and Senate. He says democrats fighting among themselves over how to pay for reforms should spend some time in his shoes.

ROSE: They really need to get their heads together, get their acts straight. With those majorities in place, things should be happening. If they don't get it done, there's going to be a lot of people that's going to be hurting because of it.

KING: John King, CNN, Fort Worth, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Another big health concern coming this fall and winter, so the push is on, particularly in Europe to get a swine flu vaccine approved before winter but experts warn a rush job could cause side effects or expose people to a wrong dosage. Here in the U.S., well, they are being cautious as well, with plans to test a swine flu vaccine next month. More than 500 people have already signed up to be test subjects for the as-yet proven vaccine.

OK. So we asked you, would you be willing to take part in a test to see if the vaccine works or has any side effects? Here's some of what you've been saying on my blog. David Marlowe says, sure, as long as there is not a chance of coming down with those full-blown flu, which is my understanding, as most test bugs used are dead specimens. Sometimes the participating test subjects even receive money.

And Denise in Nevada says I definitely would not volunteer for the experimental vaccine. Doctors say vaccines are safe because the percentage of people badly infected is low but even half of one percent of a million people is 5,000 people. And Lisa says I've heard too much negative stuff about vaccines. I never get them, nor would I ever volunteer for a new vaccine like the swine flu one. The whole swine flu ordeal should have never come to what it is. You can post your comments on my blog at cnn.com/newsroom and click on my name, Fredricka.

All right. Sarah Palin is closing in on her last hours as governor of Alaska. The big question, why is she stepping down now? CNN's Chris Welch is in Anchorage. And Chris joining us via broadband. So, what is the mood there? Are people as a whole embracing her? Are they happy about her farewell?

CHRIS WELCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here in Alaska, people pretty much are embracing her and I think that is the case, particularly for her hometown in Wasilla, Friday night. There really were maybe a handful of people who were Palin haters, so to speak.

Yesterday in Anchorage, a similar story, a few more dissenters, I would say. But overall, people here in Alaska, they like their governor, at least from the people I've talked to at these picnics, they are happy with her. Some are sad to see her go but some are excited. They say, you know, she deserves a break and they're excited to see what she does next.

WHITFIELD: Yes, well I guess, at the picnic because they're invited guests, right? At the picnic, she has lots of supporters there and folks who are there, you know, cheering her on but maybe right outside the entrance of some of these picnics or are there people trying to convey to her any disappointment that she's barely made it halfway through governorship before she's called it quits?

WELCH: Well, at least from what I've seen so far, I have not come across any organized or even informal groups of protesters. Really there are just sporadic people with signs here and there saying that they disapprove of her and her policies and she is resigning. For the most part, no large organizations of people who are coming out against Sarah Palin this weekend.

WHITFIELD: OK. Then what happens this evening? She actually has, you know, a passing of the baton to the Lieutenant governor, right you and at the same time, she will say a few words. What's the expectation?

WELCH: Well, I think the expectation is, you know, she will take the stage in a few hours and probably sum up her feelings about the stage. I assume she will lavish them with lots of love, thank them for their support, as she did with Phil (ph) the other night, thanking them, she said this is my last time addressing you as governor. I just want to say I love you and I appreciate the support you have shown me, shown my family and I look forward to working with you in the future and possibly working with other parts of the country as well.

WHITFIELD: Interesting stuff. All right, Chris Welch thanks so much. I mentioned anchorage. No you are in Fairbanks, Alaska, thanks very much for that and of course, we look forward to live coverage this evening, what Sarah Palin may be saying and what others might be saying too. Thanks so much.

So, is there a political future for this one-time GOP rising star? Talked with our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, about what could be ahead for Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin about to call it quits and join the life of a private citizen, no longer a public leader, at least for now.

How is that being accepted?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, her public image has really taken a hit over the last month or so since she said she was leaving her job as governor of Alaska that was a big shock to a lot of Americans, including her own base. Right now the latest, there have been two polls this month asking people's opinions of her and she is only about 40 percent favorable in those polls, that's a big drop from where she was last fall when she was named to the ticket and nearly 60 percent had a favorable opinion.

More important, she is taking some losses among her base, among conservatives and Republicans and even white evangelical Protestants, those are her base. While she is still favorably regarded by them, not nearly as much as she was last fall.

WHITFIELD: OK. So clearly, she has lost popularity and has very little, perhaps to do in this -- just my stab in the dark, had little to do with the defeat between her ticket with McCain but instead the direct relation here is leaving her post before her term is over?

SCHNEIDER: That means to many people, they see her as a quitter, she denies that, she says she is trying to spare the state of Alaska of some of the problems that are being created by people who are filing ethics charges against her, some of those had been dismissed, some are being investigated, but it is a real puzzle, how did she leave this job 18 months before her term ends? Really has given her the image of a quitter rather that than a strong leader and right now we are finding most Americans say she is not a strong leader and a lot of the admiration that she got early on has really diminished.

WHITFIELD: Have we gotten to the bottom of the why it is simply money, money, money?

SCHNEIDER: Well that is what her critics charge, she says it had is to spare the state, to help Alaska, to spare them these ethics investigations and charges. A lot of people think she simply has national ambitions she wants to run for president. She says she is not an officeholder anymore but she is going to be in the public spotlight because she is going to be campaigning for Republican candidates all across the country.

There is an issue, a problem with her as a national leader, she is extremely divisive. Right now if you ask Americans does Sarah Palin share your values, half say she does half say she doesn't. Republicans overwhelmingly say she shares their values but Democrats completely reject this. What does that mean? It means she comes across as a walking culture war and whenever she appears on the national stage, Americans divide.

WHITFIELD: Might some Republicans even want to distance themselves from her, particularly now these numbers showing that her popularity is dipping?

SCHNEIDER: I think she is a controversial figure, she will remain one. Some Republicans may not want or need her help because she can be more trouble, they believe, than the gains they would get from her appearances, she still does have a lot of support in the base, not as much as she used to, but the problem is so many people dislike her that it could be a real problem for Republicans who are running for election or re-election.

WHITFIELD: Bill Schneider thanks so much from Washington.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Of course, you can watch Palin's final moments in office live right here on CNN beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 Pacific and Alaska time, 3 p.m.

An FBI manhunt in rural Wyoming, the target? One of America's ten most wanted. We take you on an exclusive ride along with the agents.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Want to report to you this breaking story taking place in West Chester County, New York. You are looking at images on the right hand side of your screen, that are now streaming in, we are talking about a three-car pileup. Right there you can see the images of the twisted vehicles.

We understand according to both WABC and the Journal News, they are reporting that a minivan, a gray minivan somehow got onto the Taconic State Parkway heading in the wrong direction and then collided into an SUV. The minivan had three children on board that vehicle and when this collision took place, according to our affiliate WABC reporting and the Journal News, they are confirming that seven people are reportedly dead as a result of this crash taking place on the Taconic State Parkway in West Chester County.

This is about 30 miles north of New York City, I'm being told. Apparently, the Taconic is closed in both directions. As you see this is a live working situation right now as they try to clear the debris there and try to tend to all those who have been involved in that three-car pileup there on the Taconic State Parkway there in West Chester County, New York. All right. It is suggested that black men tend to die earlier of preventable causes like heart disease, HIV, violence and cancer. In "Black in America 2," CNN's Soledad O'Brien profiles a pie nearing men's health clinic on Chicago's south side trying to stop those trends by any means necessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PETE THOMAS, PROJECT BROTHERHOOD: What's going on? All right. Good. Good. Deep breath, in and out for me.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Dr. Pete Thomas is a pioneer.

THOMAS: I refilled these inhalers for you.

O'BRIEN: On a mission to save the lives of black men, men whose life expectancy is eight years less than the national average. And he found an innovative strategy to do it.

THOMAS: We are going to watch your diet. OK what's going on with your leg? Stop smoking.

O'BRIEN: It's called Project Brotherhood. It's goal to treat the whole man.

THOMAS: We know how to get men to the health center and it's not by advertising free colonoscopies.

O'BRIEN: Project Brotherhood begins here in this and many other Chicago barber shops. Why barber shops? Why are they so critical to you?

THOMAS: This is a tape is until our community. So men feel comfortable coming into the shop and more importantly, they feel comfortable talking about whatever health issue they may have.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): A great thing to be able to share with people.

O'BRIEN: Whether it's a father of being exploited, going become to the Tuskegee experiment, the economics of it all, including a look of health insurance or the fact that most doctors don't look like them, black men are notoriously reluctant to go to the doctor. Every Thursday, men come to Chicago's South Side for free haircuts, conversations, classes, medications and, yes, free doctors' visits.

THOMAS: How you doing?

MARCUS MURRAY, CO-DIRECTOR, PROJECT BROTHERHOOD: Take like a public health approach. Health us to, mental, physical, social, economic and spiritual one aspect is off in a man's life, he is not going to be healthy.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Hello.

O'BRIEN: Everything Project Brotherhood offers is free of charge, a much-needed lifeline during these tough economic times.

THOMAS: Keep up the good work and then here's your return visit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining us now to talk more about the brotherhood project, Dr. Pete Thomas with us live now from Chicago. Good to see you, Dr. Thomas.

THOMAS: Thank you very much. It is good to be here.

WHITFIELD: OK, so it sounds like in Soledad's piece, the operative word is free. You are able to encourage a lot of these men to get some health care, preventive health care, because you are offering it for free, right?

THOMAS: Well, you know, honestly, the taxpayers of Illinois pay for the services, but for the most part, we will not turn down anybody who comes in our door.

WHITFIELD: But sometimes, it is not an issue of money that keeps men from getting some medical care, getting preventative care, but there are the stigmas and perhaps it's really just being a little too proud. So how do you get past that?

THOMAS: Well, I mean, again, part of what we use is we use innovative methods, so we are going to barber shops, we are going to softball leagues, and we are going every place where traditional medicine has decided to ignore. So we are using these innovative projects, going into these various activities where men are typically comfortable and we use men of the community to help draw men into it.

WHITFIELD: So tell me how you break the ice, how do you -- whether you go to the ballpark or whether you are going to the barber shop and you say, OK, I'm here to it talk to you about medicine, give me an idea of what the conversation, how it starts out and how the conversation evolves.

THOMAS: You know, usually, it -- it normally revolves around health care people acting like real people. So, all of the things that we were taught in medical school that allow us to sort of have this professional distance, we try to leave all of that behind. And we act like we would act to our guys or to our, you know, regular friends in our normal setting.

WHITFIELD: So, is it really --

THOMAS: It is more of a real communication.

WHITFIELD: Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. So is it really that easy though, because it seems to me if I am, you know, in a barber shop and I'm concentrating on that and your barber shop talk and someone now comes in and says to me want to talk about medicine, I might be a little reluctant to listen to what you have to say. I'm just wondering if at all times, are there open arms to hear what it is you have to say, or do you have to do a little arm twisting to get someone interested and engaged in your offer?

THOMAS: You know, usually you the barbers help to stimulate the conversation, but you would be surprised at some of the conversation that happens normally in a barber shop. So what happens is we act as a catch basin, almost, to say we can take this conversation a little further and honestly, bring you to a place where we are assessing the African-American men and, in fact, we value your life.

And so we are -- we are there and we are -- we have various advertising up in the barber shops and we try to make sure that the men know that we are receptive to them whether they have the ability to the pay or not.

WHITFIELD: Do you hope that this goes beyond Chicago?

THOMAS: Well that is our goal. Our goal is to make sure African- American men, we can close this gap that exists, these health disparities, African-American men have the highest death rate amongst all of the ethnic groups here in the U.S., and we want to take this from coast-to-coast, if we can.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, I hope you can make to my husband's barber shop and help influence him and everyone else in the barber shop and have that conversation, kind of break the ice. Dr. Peter Thomas thanks so much, out of Chicago.

THOMAS: Take care. Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much for being with us.

And of course, folks want to hear the complete story of what Dr. Thomas and others are doing. Reminder tonight, an encore presentation of "Black in America 2" you can see it again in its entirety, tonight 8 Eastern, 5 Pacific, right here on CNN.

All right. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic boxing team. And a former pro-boxing champion, Vernon Forest shot dead in Atlanta. We will tell you what investigators are saying.

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WHITFIELD: Former boxing champion Vernon Forest is dead. Police say he was shot multiple times in the back during an apparent carjacking in Atlanta last night. The 38-year-old was a light middle weight champion and a member of the 1992 Olympic boxing team.

For 15 years accused child molester Edward Harper was on the run. Much of the time, he was one of America's ten most wanted fugitives. This afternoon, Harper is behind bars. CNN's Jim Spellman, embedded with an FBI task force and has this exclusive on Harper's takedown.

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JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): I got a call this morning from the FBI in Denver telling me they had a strong lead on the whereabouts of one of their top ten most wanted fugitives, this guy named Edward Harper. He has been on the run since the mid '90s, so I'm jumping in the car and heading up to Casper, Wyoming to see if I can't catch up with the FBI as they try to apprehend him.

Harper's accused of molesting two girls in Mississippi; he failed to appear for a court appearance in 1994 and has been on the lam since. FBI told me they believe that he is living in a camper of some sort, off in the woods, somewhere in a rural area of Wyoming. FBI sources say they are very concerned about a ruby ridge-type situation. In 1992, federal agents tried to arrest a man in rural Idaho and it turned into an 11-day siege that left one U.S. marshal and two others dead.

The case became a rallying cry for right-wing militias. This is the federal office building here in Wyoming, a group of FBI agents just returned from Johnson County, Wyoming, where they believe Harper has been holed up. They are actually being joined by two from the Wyoming County Game and Fish who are going to be in on the plan to apprehend him.

MICHAEL RANKIN, ASST. SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Harper, we believe, has been in this area for a considerable amount of time.

SPELLMAN: In charge of the operation, Agent Michael Rankin.

RANKIN: We have a location where he stays at night and somewhat of an older camper that's located on top of a pickup. We believe he will be there tomorrow morning and our plan is to take a tactical team and supporting elements up to that area and locate and contact Harper using a ruse. The point of trying to use a ruse, first of all, we want to use a very small footprint. We don't want to alert him or anybody who might be a supporter of his and we want to try to get as close as we can to him without somehow raising his antenna that we might be law enforcement, might be trying to take him into custody.

SPELLMAN: The sun's not even up yet but the FBI is packing up here and getting ready to head out to the remote region within they believe Harper has been living, a couple hours drive.

RANKIN: We have the tactical element and we have a command and control element, a crisis negotiator team and we also have an investigative team that can handle positively identifying Harper.

SPELLMAN: To conceal their identity, they change the federal plates on their SUVs to local Wyoming plates there will be no command center vehicle and no uniforms. They are going to rely on deception.

Learned a little bit more about the ruse the FBI has planned. Harper has been working for the last two years, tending to a flock of sheep. So they are accustomed to seeing people from the Wyoming Fish and Fame people up there. Their plan is let the game and fish people take the lead and make the initial contact so Harper will think they are also game and fishing agents. Harper and his sheep live along the southern edge of the Big Horn Mountains a tough three-hour drive on mostly dirt roads.

RANKIN: We have stages where we will drop different elements as we proceed up to that eight-mile mark. This is essentially where we are going to start our operation.

SPELLMAN: This is as far as I can go. Beyond this, it's private property. The operation to apprehend Harper is under way now; he is about eight miles up this dirt road here in this really isolated part of rural Wyoming. They told me that FBI's had a sniper observation team on him all night. They know right where he is and they are making their move.

The operation seems to be taking longer than expected. Two hours pass without news, but finally, the agents reappear, sweeping down the track in a series of SUVs along with their quarry. There he is, he is in that back seat so they got him. Harper put up no resistance, no shots fired, no standoff. Next stop, a courtroom in Casper.

RANKIN: The operation this morning went very smoothly, we were able to approach him very quietly; we took him into custody without incident. It felt very good that everybody's safe.

SPELLMAN: After a meticulously planned operation, the FBI could strike one name off its most wanted list.

Jim Spellman, CNN, Washington Country, Wyoming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, in his initial court appearance Friday, Harper did not enter a plea. He did request, however, a lawyer and was denied bond. He is being held in a Wyoming jail as he decides whether to fight extradition to Mississippi.

All right. Coming up in one hour from now in the CNN Newsroom with Don Lemon, an innovative new program is teaching black teenagers about marriage. They come from single family households and have never witnessed the tradition.

And we will be there live as Sarah Palin steps down as the governor of Alaska.

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WHITFIELD: OK. Jacqui Jeras is here with me to chat a little bit, like to call this the chat room. A lot of fun things to talk about.

JAQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fun stories, or water cooler- type stories.

WHITFIELD: Including Clearwater, Florida, maybe not everyone thinks this is fun but they actually have a law that forbids people from playing catch in public.

JERAS: That's right, you heard her, catch, as in throwing a ball.

WHITFIELD: That is from a toddler on up. No Frisbee on the beach, no ball-tossing, none of that and there is actually an explanation for that. This law apparently was to give police the authority to stop a game on a beach or a park that would possibly hurt someone else. That is the best explanation I can give you.

JERAS: There is a whole lot of things you can do --

WHITFIELD: There is an effort by the city council to try to amend that law.

JERAS: Harsh. I wonder how many arrests they make a day on that one?

WHITFIELD: I don't know.

JERAS: Vacation, I think.

WHITFIELD: What else is going on?

JERAS: This is my cool science geeky one today.

WHITFIELD: I like it.

JERAS: Check out the picture. It is very cool. A picture that was captured by the Hubble space telescope. And you remember, they had a little problem with it and the shuttle astronauts had to go and fix the telescope because it wasn't working. Well this picture proves they fixed it and it is working. The big black dot that you see there, that was either a meteor or maybe a comet mishmashed into the planet Jupiter and you see it is a really rare event. And they saw this happen one other time 15 years ago.

WHITFIELD: And here is the proof.

JERAS: There it is. Supposed to be several football fields wide.

WHITFIELD: Excellent. And this last little note this in Myrtle Beach, apparently there was a commercial, thought it would be rather inventive and funny to show someone with a toupee, on the roller coaster, and the toupee flies off, well not everyone likes it including someone who sells them. That is it for chat room. We are out of time. Can you believe it?

JERAS: So little time.

WHITFIELD: Thanks for being with us. "GPS" with Fareed Zakaria up next.