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President Obama Awards Sci-Tech Medal; Send a 'Sext,' Face a Felony; Year Nine in Afghanistan

Aired October 07, 2009 - 13:51   ET

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

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you so much. Thank you. Everyone please have a seat.

Before I begin the ceremony to introduce these extraordinary innovators, let me just mention a few people who are in the audience today. First of all, we've got some outstanding members of my Cabinet, Secretary Locke, Secretary Sebelius, Secretary Chu and Administrator Jackson. We are very grateful for all the outstanding work they're doing.

We've got some wonderful partners in Congress that I want to mention: Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, Representative Rush Holt -- Rush, I almost give you a promotion there, or a demotion, depending on how you look at it -- of New Jersey, Representative Anna Eshoo of California and Representative Zoe Lofgren of California.

I also want to mention my science adviser, who's doing outstanding work. Dr. Holdren is here, as well as NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. And we want to thank some of the people who helped to organize today's event, the National Science Foundation and its director, Arden Bement, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and its director, Dave Kappos, and the Linda Katehi, the chair of the National Medals of Science and Technology and Innovation Committee. So, give all of them a big round of applause.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Now, it's also a real pleasure to have so many distinguished researchers and innovators joining us, although I must admit that I have an ulterior motive for presenting these awards today. You see, Sasha has a science fair coming up.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: And I was thinking that you guys could give us a few tips. Michelle and I are a little rusty on our science.

In all seriousness, it is a privilege to present these medals, our nation's highest honor for scientific and technological achievements, to the folks who have come here today from all parts of our country and all areas of scientific investigation. The scientists in this room have plumbed the furthest reaches of the universe and the deepest recesses of the human mind.

They have sequenced the human genome and stimulated the workings of the atoms. They have developed technologies that have greatly improved our understanding of the human body and the natural world, and they've fostered innovations that have saved millions of lives and improved countless more. So, this nation owes all of you an enormous debt of gratitude, far greater than any medal can bestow.

And we recognize your contributions, but we also celebrate the incredible contributions of the scientific endeavor itself. We see the promise not just for our economy, but for our health and well- being and the human capacity for creativity and ingenuity. And we are reminded of the power of free and open inquiry, which is not only at the heart of all of your work, but at the heart of this experiment we call America.

Because throughout our history, amid tumult and war and against tough odds, this nation has always looked toward the future and then led the day. It was during the darkest days of the Civil War that President Lincoln established the land grand colleges and the National Academy of Science. It was during World War II that President Roosevelt requested that Vannevar Bush, his science adviser and a future recipient of the National Medal of Science, outline a set of policies to maintain our science and technological leadership in the 20th century.

And it was in the years that followed the Soviet launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth, that the United States would create DARPA, NASA and the National Defense Education Act, which helped improve math and science education from grade school to graduate school. In fact, the national medal itself was established just two years after that launch as a sign to the world and to ourselves of how highly we valued the work of the nation's scientists.

Today, we face more complex challenges than generations past. A medical system that holds the promise of unlocking new cures, attached to a health care system that has the potential to bankrupt families and businesses. A system of energy that powers our economy but also endangers our planet. Threats to our security that seek to exploit the very interconnectedness and openness that's so essential to our prosperity. And challenges in a global marketplace which link the trader on Wall Street to the homeowner on Main Street and the office worker in America to the factory worker in China.

We all share in opportunity, but we also all share in crisis. At such a difficult moment, there are those who say we can't afford to invest in science, that it's a luxury at a moment defined by necessities. I could not disagree more. Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security and our health and our way of life than it has ever been. And the winners we are recognizing only underscore that point, with achievements and physics and medicine, computer science and cognitive science, energy technology and biotechnology.

We need to ensure that we are encouraging the next generation of discoveries and the next generation of discoverers. That's why my administration has set this goal. By investing in education, funding basic and applied research and spurring private innovation, we will devote 3 percent of our gross domestic product to research and development. That's more than at any point in recent history.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And as part of this effort, we're putting in place policies that will move us from the middle to the top of the pack in math and science education over the next decade. We are challenging states to dramatically improve achievement by raising standards, by improving the use of technology and by making it possible for professionals like our honorees to bring a lifetime of experience and enthusiasm into the classroom.

And we've also launched a Race to the Top Fund to encourage states to compete for the most innovative programs in math and science as a part of a broader effort to foster new ways of engaging young people in these fields.

The White House is participating, too. Tonight in fact, we are bringing children to the South Lawn for a night of astronomy. I am really looking forward to this. This is going to be be fun.

They'll peer through telescopes, wander through exhibits and hopefully feel a sense of wonder that might one day lead them here to receive a medal themselves. And my administration has set another goal to compete for the jobs of the future and to encourage the scientists and engineers of the future. By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. We used to be number one. We have fallen behind. We are going to regain our position.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: To meet this goal, we have increased the Pell Grant and passed legislation through the House which we're working to pass through the Senate to end more than $80 billion in wasteful subsidies to lenders and use that money instead to help students.

Beyond the classroom, the Recovery Act that we passed is funding the largest single boost to biomedical research in history. My budget makes the research and experimentation tax credit permanent to help companies afford the often high cost of innovation.

I've proposed eliminating the capital gains taxes for investments in startups in small companies because countless big ideas begin in small businesses. And we are doubling our capacity in renewable energy, even as we seek to create a system of incentives to make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America.

For at our best, this nation has never feared the future. We've shaped the future. Even when we've endured terrible storms, we haven't given up or turned back. We've remained fixed on that brighter horizon.

And that's how we have led in the pursuit of scientific discovery. And, in turn, that's how science has helped us lead the world. There's no better illustration than what took place at the close of World War II, when the United States transported dozens of captured V-2 rockets from Germany to New Mexico. These were among the most sophisticated weapons in the world. A reminder that much of World War II was fought far from the battlefield by Alan Turring (ph) and Fletchy Park (ph) and Oppenheimer at Los Alamos, and by countless others who developed radar and aircraft and antibiotics.

The military wanted to understand this new missile technology that the V-2 represented, but scientists were also invited to use these tests to make measurements of the atmosphere. And then one engineer had an idea to rig a camera and attach it to one of the rockets.

And so, in this brief moment, between the end of the world war and the start of a Cold War, a group of scientists erupted with joy as they discovered that they had captured the very first photos of our world as seen from space. And their work would continue as the Rocket and Satellite Research Panel. And after the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the work of this panel would be assumed by a new a new agency called NASA.

The research into these weapons of war would lead to the missions of Mercury and Gemini and Apollo. That's the incredible promise of the work scientists do every day, like the scientists, research and engineers and innovators we honor with these medals.

That scientific progress also offers us a chance to achieve our prosperity and defend our nation. It has offered us benefits that have improved our lives and our health, improvements that we often take for granted. But it also gives us something more.

At root, science forces us to reckon with the truth as best as we could ascertain it, and to reckon with the power that comes from this knowledge, for good and forever. With each new discovery brings new responsibility to move past our differences and to address our shared problems, to embrace a sense of wonder and our common humanity.

Now, Carl Sagan, who helped broaden the research of science to millions of people, once described his enthusiasm for discovery in very simple terms. He said, "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."

Thank you all for the incredible discoveries that you have made, the progress you have invented, and the benefits you have bestowed on the American people and the world.

So, it is now my honor to ask the recipients to come forward to receive their medals. And as their citations are read, you'll just have to bend down a little bit, and we will bestow on you the highest honor that our nation can give you for science technology and innovation.

So, do we have someone here for the citations?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. Berni Alder. (APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 2008 National Medal of Science to Dr. Berni Alder, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, for establishing powerful computer methods useful for molecular dynamic simulations, conceiving and executing experimental shock wave simulations to obtain properties of fluids and solids at very high pressures and developing Monte Carlo methods for calculating the properties of matter from first principals, all of which contributed to major achievements in the science of condensed matter.

(APPLAUSE)

Dr. Francis S. Collins.

(APPLAUSE)

2008 National Medal of Science to Dr. Francis S. Collins, National Institutes of Health, for his visionary contributions to the fields of genetics and genomics through the work of his own laboratory, and his leadership of multiple international genomics initialives, including the Human Genome Project.

(APPLAUSE)

Dr. Joanna S. Fowler.

(APPLAUSE)

2008 National Medal of Science to Dr. Joanna S. Fowler, Brookhaven National Laboratory, for her pioneering work in chemistry involving the synthesis of medical imaging compounds and her innovative applications of these compounds to human neuroscience, which have significantly advanced our understanding of the human brain and brain diseases, including drug addiction.

(APPLAUSE)

Dr. Elaine Fuchs.

(APPLAUSE)

2008 National Medal of Science to Dr. Elaine Fuchs, the Rockefeller University, for her pioneering use of cell biology and molecular genetics in mice to understand the basis of inherited diseases in humans, and her outstanding contributions to our understandings of the biology of skin and its disorders, including her notable investigations of adult skin stem cells, cancers and genetic syndromes.

(APPLAUSE)

Dr. James E. Gunn.

(APPLAUSE) 2008 National Medal of Science to Dr. James E. Gunn, Princeton University, for his brilliant design of many of the most influential telescopes and instruments in astronomy, and in particular for the crucial role those technological marvels played in the creation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has cataloged 200 million stars, galaxies and quasars, discovered the most distant known quasars, and probed (ph) the (INAUDIBLE) formation of the first stars in galaxies.

(APPLAUSE)

Dr. Rudolph E. Kalman,

(APPLAUSE)

2008 National Medal of Science to Dr. Rudolph E. Kalman, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, for his fundamental contributions to modern system theory which provided rigorous mathematical tools for engineering, economics and statistics, and in particular for his invention of the Kalman Filter, which was critical to achieving the moon landings and creating the global positioning system and which has facilitated the use of computers and control and communications technology.

(APPLAUSE)

Dr. Michael I. Posner.

(APPLAUSE)

2008 National Medal of Science to Dr. Michael I. Posner, University of Oregon, for his innovative application of technology to the understanding of brain function, his incisive and accurate modeling of functional tasks, and his development of methodological and conceptual tools to help understand the mind and the development of brain networks of attention.

(APPLAUSE)

Dr. JoAnne Stubbe.

(APPLAUSE)

2008 National Medal of Science to Dr. JoAnne Stubbe, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for her groundbreaking experiments establishing the mechanisms of...

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: You know, so many of us in the journalism in the field are saying these are the people that we really respected and admired growing up, because they are some of the finest minds in the country. The National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology -- the president honoring each one of them for the incredible things that they have done for you, for me, for our families and for our future.

And it makes you wonder -- adolescence just isn't what it used to be. Take teen hormones, throw in some technology. And what do you get? Well, big, big trouble.

We're going to push forward. A criminal case that might have you asking, what is my kid doing with his or her cell phone?

Of course growing up in Chicago isn't what it used to be either. Too many teens there never getting the chance to grow up at all.

How do you restore hope to a place where it seems lost?

Give us about 30 minutes, and we're going to push forward with Chicago's push to restore its children's future.

But right now, sexting, a word, a practice that probably never crossed your mind when you were a teen. Oh boy. Times have changed.

Some Pennsylvania teens facing child porn charges because of steamy photos they allegedly sent on their cell phones. Kids now flirting with felonies.

Carrie Fairchild from our affiliate WGAL has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't even know what sexting was. My daughter had to tell me what that was. I said, "What is that?"

CARRIE FAIRCHILD, REPORTER, WGAL (voice-over): It's something that's traceable and punishable by law, something students at Chambersburg Area Senior High School are now finding out as police investigate an alleged sexting incident that could involve about 30 teens.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was pretty upset about it. Pretty upset about it.

FAIRCHILD: The school district found out about it after students came forward to teachers and an anonymous tip line.

ERIC MICHAEL, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT: There possibly was an e- mail out circulating among students that had explicit pictures of students within the high school.

CHIEF DAVE ARNOLD, CHAMBERSBURG, PA ., POLICE: There are photos of some young ladies that are in various stages of nudity.

FAIRCHILD: It's eye-opening for parents and students.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have to realize that that's not going to just stop with that one friend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our job will be to chase down who had these, who transmitted them, and then go back to the D.A.'s office and consult with them.

FAIRCHILD: With other cases of sexting, school officials thought they had prepared students by giving them Internet safety training. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're very concerned that this message for some reason is not getting through, and we want to look at how we're delivering that.

FAIRCHILD: Now school officials and police are trying to figure out how to handle technology that can make things easier, but also makes things more complex.

ARNOLD: Unfortunately, as the law exists right now, a student could be charged with a felony, and that could have a lot of repercussions for them in the future.

MICHAEL: We also wanted to make sure that it does not impair or impede a student's life forever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So, I ask again, do you know what your teen's doing with the cell phone? Well, check out just how many kids are sexting.

According to a new survey, one in five teens overall has sent or posted a nude picture of or video of themselves. Eleven percent of teen girls under 16 in that survey said they had. And nearly 40 percent of all teens are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages. Putting notes on the windshield or sharing a milkshake at the malt shop, well, folks those days are over.

Let's talk with more Eric Michael of the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, school system. He's actually the guy that we heard from in that story just a minute ago.

And, you know, Eric, is it as amazing to you as it has been to all of us what these teens are doing?

MICHAEL: It certainly is. This is a very serious issue, and one that will have far-reaching implications for the students as they post these pictures or messages.

PHILLIPS: So, I've got to tell you, I didn't grow up a priss, Eric. Let's just get that straight here. But this is something that has never even entered my mind as a kid. So, is it the tools that the kids are being given, ones that they shouldn't have, or is it just the environment that these kids are growing up in now?

MICHAEL: I think we have to look at it's a culmination of both. Obviously, this is a societal issue, not just a school problem. We as a community have to solve this together. But I also think that in society, this is becoming a norm, what you may call a rite of passage, that young ladies have to send these pictures or else they're not accepted.

PHILLIPS: So, what are you doing? I know you did Internet safety training. And obviously, it didn't work with this group of kids.

What did you learn from that? What are you going to have to do now to try and tackle this? I mean, there's up to 30 kids that could be in trouble here.

MICHAEL: That's correct. And obviously our intended message is not getting through to all students, so we're going to relook at how we're delivering that. We're going to partner with our local police, our state police, and our local D.A.'s office, and also partner with parents to put together a program not only for the parents, but for the students and the community to get this message across.

PHILLIPS: How are you going to do that, though, Eric? Can you give me an example? Can you tell me something that you're talking about that you're actually going to do with these kids?

MICHAEL: Well, actually, what we're going to be doing is going out to parents and local PTAs, and in the evening, and meeting with parents on a small group basis to present this program and present how they can, number one, how they can view the technology. Number one, parents are in some ways clueless on how to use the technology. So we need to train them on how to access phone information and access computer information so they can be more savvy in looking at what their children are into on the computer or with their cell phones.

PHILLIPS: Yes, every parent needs to be doing that.

Now, there's talk that these kids could be charged with child porn. That's pretty hard core. That could affect them for the rest of their lives.

Do you support child porn charges against these kids?

MICHAEL: Based on the evidence we have so far, not in this instance. We need to realize that one reckless act could potentially follow them in their future and affect them in a very negative way. And that's certainly not our intent. We feel the education component is far more important to make sure that the students understand the full implications of what they have done.

PHILLIPS: So, will they be disciplined?

MICHAEL: That remains to be seen based on the investigation. We still are not clear as to whether any district policies are violated, whether the acceptable use policies for using the school district equipment to transmit or produce any of those photos.

PHILLIPS: Well, we'll follow up.

Eric Michael, appreciate your time.

MICHAEL: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, I know you want to get in on this conversation. Tell me what you think on our blog at CNN.com/Kyra, or tweet me, Twitter.com/KyraCNN. I'll read your messages this hour.

Three sides of a war now eight years old. The Taliban aren't in power in Afghanistan, but their power to threaten the government, the population, soldiers from many nations is on the rise. Afghanistan's women are largely free from Taliban repression, but a brand new law gives husbands new and controversial power over their wives.

The war against Afghan drugs is far from won, but the U.N. says the country's opium production fell 10 percent last year, and prices are down, too.

So, there's the war, and there's the battles, the conflicts, the campaigns behind the war.

Ken Robinson is a 20-year veteran of Special Ops and intel in the U.S. Army. He's now a media consultant there in L.A.

Here we are eight years into this war, Ken. And you and I have been talking about this war for eight years. Before I get to the three main concerns I want you to hit on, progress, where do you see the most progress since 9/11?

KEN ROBINSON, FMR. MILITARY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Well, initially was routing the Taliban from power in the central government. That puts (INAUDIBLE) 2001 and 2002.

Unfortunately, because we got engaged in Iraq, they were able to regroup, reorganize, recruit new people, and it became a magnet. And unfortunately, the enemy they're fighting today is not the enemy they fought in 2001. There's an enormous amount of what's coming from other countries which is fueling and funding and insurgency simply to confront the American and the NATO presence there.

PHILLIPS: All right. So you've got two ongoing wars, and I guess resources going into Afghanistan and Iraq really hasn't helped either war. It's made it a bit tougher.

But looking at Afghanistan, there's three things that seem to still be a major issue. I'd like you to hit each one with me.

First, terrorism training camps. They're still there, they're still strong. We're seeing dozens of and dozens of madrassas.

ROBINSON: Support is coming out of Pakistan. Most of the camps are in Pakistan. And unfortunately, government of Pakistan, politically, cannot take on those tribal areas, cannot take on the northwest Frontier Province, the federally administered tribal areas, the no-go area.

Every time they have tried to cut a deal, the deal has been broken. And unfortunately, every time they fight, they have collateral damage, because that's the strategy of the Taliban and al Qaeda, to get as close as possible to the population, (INAUDIBLE) United States credibility every time (INAUDIBLE). It's very difficult because they have sanctuary across the border, that is a very difficult thing.

PHILLIPS: Number two, drugs. We're even seeing DEA agents from here in the United States being sent over there to try and stop this drug trade that has been on the rise, drugs coming into the United States.

ROBINSON: Heroin is on the rise ever since we took the Taliban out. We created the problem. There was not a problem (INAUDIBLE) there, but this shot up after we stabilized the Taliban and the (INAUDIBLE) an enormous amount of money, billions of dollars.

To stop this, it's not up to (INAUDIBLE) of the average Afghani farmer. If I was an Afghani farmer, I would be raising poppy because it would help me feed my family.

In Iran, (INAUDIBLE) substitute pistachios, because pistachios earn about the same amount on the economy. (INAUDIBLE), and if the United States would allow the Iranians to assist in helping with the crops substitution program, I believe it would be more successful (INAUDIBLE) of the general population, meaning that they have (INAUDIBLE) us and they pay their royalties to the Taliban.

PHILLIPS: Ken Robinson, via Skype out of Los Angeles there.

Always good to talk to you. I have a feeling we'll be talking about this for a long time to come.

And next hour, President Obama will gather his national security cabinet for top-secret talks. It's the second such meeting in a week and it won't be their last.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Top stories this hour.

Not one, but two firsts at the U.S. Capitol this morning with the unveiling of the Helen Keller statue. She's being honored for her trailblazing work for the disabled. The statue of Keller as a 7-year- old is also a Capitol first depicting a child.

America's first family of civil rights is downright uncivil over money. Today's the deadline for the children of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to work out differences or face a civil trial next week. Two of the King kids are suing a third over his handling of the estate.

First an alleged kidnapper, then the state of Tennessee, but Maria Gurrolla finally got all her kids back. The state put the infant and Gurrolla's older children in foster care, investigating claims that she may have tried to sell that baby. A Gurrolla says that the baby was taken by a woman pretending to be an immigration agent. That suspect is in custody.

They came here illegally, but the feds say they deserve better than this. Men, women and children thrown into a virtual prison. Where else can we put them?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, hey, if there's a flood coming, no problem. This house in New Orleans won't get swamped by big hurricanes like Katrina. It actually floats. I'm not kidding.

The home was designed and built at UCLA through Brad Pitt's Make it Right Foundation. And then it was shipped in pieces to New Orleans. When floodwaters rise, well, the home's base acts as a raft and can rise to 12 feet on guideposts.

In school it's a war zone. A Chicago student talks about the violence and fear that he deals with every day and the brutal, fatal assault on his classmate.

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