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Powerful Storm, High Winds; Court Rules No Link Between Autism and Vaccine; Growing Sympathies for al-Qaeda in U.S.?; Free Female Condoms in D.C.
Aired March 13, 2010 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight weather knocking out power, suspending train service, diverting flights. We're live.
The truth about a vaccine and a connection to autism in children.
What's causing more Americans to become al Qaeda sympathizers?
A story you need to see about condoms before you think about having sex again.
A new political party taking on tea parties.
A town running out of money, in danger of losing its entire police department.
And an expensive speed boat takes on a giant whaling ship. Guess who wins.
Good evening, everyone. We begin tonight with breaking news.
A massive storm now raking the northeast. Nearly a half a million people are in the dark right now due to heavy rain and extremely high winds, part of a crane collapse at a construction site in Atlantic City.
In New York, high winds sent tree limbs and debris smashing into car windows. Amtrak service was stopped between New York and Philadelphia. And up the coast in Boston, diverted flights from New York are contributing to major delays right now.
Jacqui Jeras in the CNN severe weather center.
Jacqui, as we said earlier, this is getting worse?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know, the storm just peaked this evening. And we've seen near hurricane force wind gusts causing all that damage. Check out these pictures from New York City. JFK, you had a wind gust of 67 miles per hour. People are out there with their umbrellas. And we have that video to show you. Yes, look at that. You know, it's the day where the umbrella pops out. That's how strong it was. And brought down trees, brought down power lines. Put some transportation to a halt, because of the winds in this storm as well. Rainfall amounts about an inch and a half in New York City. And we've seen as much as four inches in parts of the northeast and mid- Atlantic. And this storm system such a slow mover isn't going to pull out of here until probably Monday. So you have a whole another day to get through with this heavy rain and these strong winds.
The best thing I can tell you is that overnight, the winds are going to diminish a little bit. So instead of seeing 60 to 70 mile per hour wind gusts, we're going to see winds maybe 40 to 50 miles per hour with a gusting, and 30 probably max throughout your day until Sunday. And we'll continue to see these occasional rain showers.
We've got flood watches and warnings effect from the mid-Atlantic throughout the northeast. And we could see an additional probably one to three inches of rain on top of what you've already had. We've got flooding throughout the Virginias as well as across much of Pennsylvania. And I want to show you some of these peak winds that we've been seeing here as well. 70 miles per hour, Keansburg, New Jersey. Atlantic City 67 miles per hour. There's the JFK that I mentioned. A look at Philadelphia, 56 miles per hour.
A live picture we want to show you out of providence, is that right? Rhode Island. Yes, there you can see it from our affiliate WJAR. And look at this shaking going on on the camera there tonight.
So this storm continues to stay extremely intense, very strong, almost more like a tropical system, Don, except, of course, you know, temperatures are too cold, so you certainly can't call it that, but it's sort of behaving that way for tonight. So tonight's the night to stay home throughout most of the day tomorrow. Things look a little bit better as we take off next week.
LEMON: All right. Stick around for the very latest. Jacqui Jeras, we'll have it. Jacqui, thank you very much.
Right now, utility crews are working to get power back on in New York. It's lights out for many customers in New York City. The northern suburbs and also Long Island.
We want to go now to Kevin Law. He is the president and CEO of Long Island Power and Authority. He joins us now by phone.
Thank you, sir. How many people are affected in your area?
KEVIN LAW, PRES. & CEO, LONG ISLAND POWER AUTHORITY (via telephone): Don, today, we're close to 190,000. We have about a million customers, and so, it's almost 200,000 so far. So we have definitely experienced hurricane type winds here on Long Island today.
And in addition to that, the ground is so wet from all the snow we've had this winter and from all the rain. And that's help it to twist and topple over, as well as our utility polls. And so the damage is extensive, and the conditions are still terrible to get crews out there. They're doing the best they can. But we'll be doing a lot more surveying of the damage tomorrow. But we expect the restoration efforts to continue into the early part of next week. LEMON: The early part of next week before you can get the power back on to everyone?
LAW: Yes, exactly. And this has primarily been a south shore of Long Island issue. From Kennedy Airport out to the Hamptons, and the south shore has really taken a beating. Again, we have all crews out there. The problem is, the entire northeast is being hit. So we're not able to get mutual aid from neighboring states, because they're not releasing any crews because they're getting hammered as well.
LEMON: They're all having problems. Kevin Laws, the president and CEO of Long Island Power and Authority. Thank you. Good luck, sir. We may check back in with you just a little bit later, OK?
LAW: See you, Don.
LEMON: Listen, we're going to take you to New Jersey in just a little bit. And I want to tell you what's happening in New Jersey. Just got this new video just from Atlantic City. The wind knocked over part of the construction crane at a Casino. A police officer was injured by the debris when it crashed through the window of his patrol car. And you hear there, much of the northeast is being hit. That's what Kevin Law said.
So there are people who usually help out other towns when something like this happens, not happening right now, because everyone is dealing with their own issue.
Why don't we go to New Jersey live now? Shawn Bergen is with News 12 New Jersey. He is in Fort Lee tonight.
Good evening.
SHAWN BERGEN, NEWS 12 NEW JERSEY: Yes, good evening to you. And I wish I could say it was the same here because we're experiencing winds that at times are topping 60 miles an hour that has made it extremely difficult to even remain standing. Now, the Anderson Avenue, where we're standing is littered literally with chunks of debris like this one that have been ripped from the rooftop of this 15-story high rise. You see behind me here on Anderson Avenue.
Now, you may be able to make out the police right behind me. They're keeping people well back from a set of power lines that are dangling dangerously close to the roadway. They're only about 10 feet off the road. And about every five or ten minutes or so, we see emergency first responders on their way to contend with downed trees and power lines as this same scene is playing out across the northern part of the garden state.
LEMON: All right, Shawn Bergen joining us from New Jersey. He's with News 12 New Jersey. We appreciate your reporting tonight. Make sure you stay safe.
Listen, we want to wish everybody in the northeast some safety tonight. And hopefully, you will get your power back, as you heard from the folks there. It could be well into next week before that happens.
In the meantime, there's some other news to tell you about. President Barack Obama sent Congress a strong message today. The country's education system needs a major overhaul. That's what he says. The president wants to see big changes in the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind Act. And he's promising improve schools so U.S. students can make up ground laws to youngsters in other countries. A proposed bill will be delivered to Capitol Hill. That will happen on Monday.
Explosions killed at least 35 people in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar Province today. Forty-seven people were hurt. Afghan police blames suicide bombers and mortar fire.
Searchers are looking for a firefighter missing in raging floodwaters in West Virginia. The high waters unleashed by melting snow and rain, also swept away a woman who drowned. A state of emergency is in effect in 34 counties. More on our top stories a little bit later on in this broadcast.
A new legal decision in a long running and emotional debate. The alleged link between vaccines and autism put to the test. Why the ruling will not mean an end to the debate.
Another American woman linked to a terror plot overseas. What in the world is going on? She's out of jail, but she may not be out of trouble.
And Washington, D.C., takes a decisive new approach to its epidemic of AIDS and HIV. What the city is doing, and the painful numbers behind this drastic decision.
Also, time for you to weigh-in, become part of the conversation. Make sure you log on and send us you're comments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A special court ruled this week that vaccines do not cause autism in children. Many parents were extremely upset by that legal decision. They are convinced that vaccinations played a role in their children's autism. Earlier tonight, I spoke with Dr. Robert Geller, a pediatrician and toxicologist with the Emery School of Medicine here in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ROBERT GELLER, PEDIATRICIAN AND TOXICOLOGIST: I think, first of all, this ruling affirms what many pediatricians have been saying, that vaccines are not something to worry about as a cause of autism in your children.
LEMON: So, then, why are so many parents convinced that their child's autism was caused by a vaccine?
GELLER: Well, it's easy to understand why parents would be concerned, because the autism symptoms typically show up around 12 to 24 months of age, just after children have received many, many vaccines in the previous year. But our data now suggests that whether they got vaccines or whether they didn't get vaccines, whether the vaccines contained the preservative thimerasol that people are concerned about or whether they didn't, that autism is increasing either way.
LEMON: So, if vaccines don't cause the autism, then what does?
GELLER: Well, that's a question, I think, that American medicine and medicine worldwide wishes they knew the answer to, but we really don't. We know that some cases are caused by genetic problems. We don't know what causes many other cases. And it's that exact lack of ability to pinpoint a specific cause or causes that makes it hard to address these concerns.
LEMON: Here's one e-mail I got from a viewer, and I think someone in her family has autism. And she thinks that autism is genetic she says for sure, but something in the environment is making some symptoms worse for this generation. Do you agree with that?
GELLER: I think that's very possible. We don't -- we don't completely understand how the environment interacts with the genetic makeup we each carry. And so, it's very possible that there are certain substances in the environment or certain conditions in the environment that play into our genetic makeup and predisposed illnesses like this.
LEMON: OK.
GELLER: However, we don't know.
LEMON: All right. So, hey, listen, I have a couple here because we promised our viewers that we'd get some of these live.
OK. What is it about thimerasol? You said that many people believe it could cause autism. Or was one doctor's opinion what gave people something to blame, that gave people something to blame?
GELLER: Well, thimerasol is chemically related to methyl mercury and we know that methyl mercury causes severe damage to children when they had that exposed to them in Japan, in Minamata Bay, and in other places. So, when people were concerned and raised this question, it was a worthy question to study. But I think our studies at this point are very clear that there's no evidence that thimerasol seems to be contributing to the autism problem.
LEMON: I think this is a great question from a viewer. He says, "I have a 10-month-old child. Are there signs autism in a child this age -- or autism signs in the child this age, 10 months old?"
GELLER: That's a little bit early for most children. Usually, we start to see it between 12 and 18 months of age, but there are some children who might be severely affected, who might show signs with that age. But they might as well be showing signs of other medical conditions. And so, I think if our viewers are concerned about children, whether they're 10 months or 20 months old or 30 months old, the best person to talk with is their child's pediatrician.
LEMON: Listen, Doctor, probably the most important question of all: should you then give your child these vaccines? And if so, how should you administer them? In a round, one round, or should you spread them out over time?
GELLER: Well, our best evidence is the vaccine schedule that's been recommended by the CDC. That's been shown to be safe and effective in the vast majority of kids. We -- there are people who wish to spread it out for some reason or other. But the evidence is not good to say that that improves anything.
LEMON: So, should you give your kids the vaccines?
GELLER: Well, the best ink I can tell you is my son got all his vaccines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You can find much, much more about autism and the court ruling on vaccines at CNN.com.
If you don't like tea, there's a new choice on the political menu. We're talking with the founder of the coffee party movement.
And Americans are getting used to tough budget cuts, hitting close to home. But closing the police department?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just a shock to everybody. Nobody believed it. I couldn't believe it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A look now at your top stories. At least 13 people are dead in a suicide bombing in northwest Pakistan. Dozens more were hurt. The Taliban and Pakistan is claiming responsibility. The blast happened at a security checkpoint in an area where the military launched an offensive against the Taliban last year. This comes a day after a pair of attacks in Pakistan killed at least 44 people.
The political alliance led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki is leading as vote counting in the country continues, in the country's parliamentary elections. Al Maliki's coalition is on top in a four of the ten provinces reporting results so far. Al Maliki also leads in Baghdad. Home for the biggest block of Shiites. The Shiite coalition backed by Iran is in a tight battle for second place with a modern alliance led by a former prime minister.
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake rocks Indonesia, but so far, no reports of deaths, injuries or damage. The epicenter was Indonesia's Maluku Island. Officials have not issued a tsunami warning. Irish police investigating a terror plot have released an American woman. The "Wall Street Journal" first reported that 31- year-old Jamie Paulin-Ramirez of Colorado had been arrested. She was reportedly detained as part of an investigation into a plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who poked fun at the prophet Mohammed.
Well, another American woman, Colleen LaRose of Pennsylvania, who has been dubbed "Jihad Jane" has already indicted in that plot. There's no decision yet on whether to charge Paulin-Ramirez who apparently recently converted to Islam. Her mother says her daughter's young son is caught in the middle of all this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE MOTT, MOTHER OF JAMIE PAULIN-RAMIREZ: Now, that little boy is in a foreign country with strangers, scared to death, and all he's been telling us is, "Come get me, come get me, you know. I want to come home." And we need to find some way, some help to bring this little boy back here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, these two cases are raising a troubling possibility that al Qaeda may be finding ready and willing new recruits from ordinary Americans. I asked terrorism expert Paul Cruickshank of New York University about the trend in homegrown terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, TERRORISM ANALYST: Around seven percent, according to the Pugh Organization, of American-born Muslims now have some sympathy with Al Qaeda's ideology. Now, that's a very worrying number for American counter-terrorism officials. It maybe not as bad as in some European countries, but worrying nonetheless, Don.
LEMON: Let us get back to this online thing, because a lot of this is happening online, and they're hearing about it online. They're reaching people on line and then that begs the question is our government or the FBI, do they have the means to monitor these people and the site.
CRUICKSHANK: Well, absolutely. Absolutely. They're monitoring these sites. A lot of them now are sort of YouTube channels or Facebook accounts, MySpace is being used and they are also password- protected sites. All these sites are being monitored for intelligence purposes, but there's something called the First Amendment, which means that a lot of these Internet sites can just function but there's very little that U.S. authorities can do about them, Don.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: We're hearing, Paul --
CRUICKSHANK: -- for counter terrorism officials.
LEMON: We're hearing Paul that this "Jihad Jane," this so-called "Jihad Jane" that she has been dubbed that she may take a plea bargain. The question is if she does take a plea bargain, the information that they could possibly learn, does this in any way inhibit the information that they could possibly learn from her either investigators or just Americans, general public?
CRUICKSHANK: Well, every time, you know, investigators, the authorities have a plea bargain, often they get a great amount of intelligence from suspects in these cases. They may be able to get intelligence from this woman "Jihad Jane." There's been, it seems, a plea bargain with Najibullah Zazi being involved in very serious al Qaeda plots here in September, able to get a lot of intelligence from him.
So every time the authorities are able to get these people to talk and to use leverage to get them to talk, that's a very, very good thing for U.S. counterterrorism officials trying to keep this country safe, Don.
LEMON: You mentioned a surge, you said we've seen more of this, I would imagine. Can we expect more of these and another way to put it wannabes in the near future to come about?
CRUICKSHANK: I think unfortunately the trend is for more Americans to become involved in violent extremism. Some of them are sort of completely homegrown. They are sort of radicalized here, and wants to launch attacks over here. The most worrying cases, Don, are the people going overseas, especially to Pakistan to train in al Qaeda's camps there, or also in Yemen, increasingly we're seeing Americans going to Yemen and becoming involved with groups linked to al Qaeda over there.
And these people have the sort of terrorist skills which can make them very, very dangerous and make their plots more likely to succeed, Don. So those are the ones that American counterterrorism officials are most concerned about.
LEMON: I'm going to move on Paul, but what in the world would make an American want to do something like this, especially women, especially a mother?
CRUICKSHANK: It's very, very, very difficult to tell. But for a lot of these people, sometimes they feel lost. Sometimes they don't understand their new religion. These radicals can take advantage of that. They can say, well this is the true religion. Of course, it's not. Sometimes for them it's for a sense of belonging, to be part of something, to have a purpose. The radicals say, look, you can be great, you can do something to protect your fellow Muslims. They use all sorts of tactics to recruit these people and to persuade them to do these unconscionable acts, Don.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Make sure you stay with CNN, day and night, for all the latest news and information about your security.
New condoms not for men, but for women. Why they just might be the answer activists have been looking for in the fight against AIDS.
And Jacqui Jeras will bring us the very latest on the storms that are raking the northeast. It was our breaking news at the top of the show.
Flights going nowhere. Damaged homes, lights out, is just some of what's happening tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The new female condom could become the newest weapon in the medical war against HIV and AIDS. And Washington, D.C. health workers are giving out the condoms to keep the disease at bay.
And Kate Bolduan reports, they are going everywhere from salons to college campuses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saturdays at the Lamar Edwards Salon in Washington are a little different these days.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many people have heard of the female condom?
BOLDUAN: As part of a new citywide campaign, the first large scale effort of its kind, health officials are trying to promote and distribute female condoms throughout the district.
Salon owner, Gerald Armstrong, jumped at the chance to take part, offering the protection to all of his clients.
GERALD ARMSTRONG, CO-OWNER, LAMAR EDWARDS SALON: It gives the women a sense of empowerment about their own protection. We talk about beauty and we talk about hair and makeup and things to make them feel better. We should start talking about things that help them to live longer.
BOLDUAN: From salon demonstrations to college campus safe sex parties.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the package, there is a lot of directions about how to use it. You see that? All right.
BOLDUAN: These outreach efforts are targeting women with the hope of breaking the ice on an uncomfortable but potentially life- saving issue, protect yourself and slow this startling trend.
HIV-AIDS is the leading cause of death for black women between the ages of 25 and 34 nationwide.
SHANNON HADER, D.C. HIV-AIDS ADMINISTRATION: We are very, very concerned with making sure that women in the district realize that HIV in fact is a woman's disease, too. BOLDUAN: Backed by a half million dollar grant from Mac Cosmetics, they are handing out a half million female condoms, hoping to send a strong message with them.
DR. CELIA MAXWELL, HOWARD UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S HEALTH INSTITUTE: HIV and AIDS has declared war, particularly on African-American women. And I feel that we are justified, as health care providers, to look for every single avenue to fight back.
BOLDUAN: Dr. Celia Maxwell said the female condom not new, but an earlier version never gained popularity. The newest release, known as FC2, is said to be more affordable and more comfortable.
MAXWELL: And if it's used properly and if it's not damaged, I would see that the effectiveness would be about the same as a male condom.
BOLDUAN: Back at the salon, Elethia Singletary said it's worth trying.
ELETHIA SINGLETARY, SALON CUSTOMER: I definitely think it's worth of investment. You can't risk one night of a time of turmoil and trouble when you could have used the female condom.
BOLDUAN: The average rate of HIV infection in the U.S. is less than one percent. But here in D.C., the rate of infection is three percent, passing the threshold of what's considered a severe epidemic. Now health officials are just hoping their message can spread faster than the disease itself.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: If a tea party is not your style, well, maybe you would prefer coffee. The newest political movement is up and running. And I'll talk to the founder of the coffee party.
And you won't believe what happens to this speed boat when it takes on a Japanese whaling ship. Let's just say speed is no match for size.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: In the age of the Internet, it was bound to happen. When the tea party stole the political spotlight a year ago, it was only a matter of time before someone with an opposing view organized an alternative. Now someone has. It's called a coffee party. Her name is Annabel Park. And I asked her if the coffee party was created to counter the tea party.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNABEL PARK, FOUNDER, COFFEE PARTY USA: Many of us felt at the same time a desire for an alternate to the tea party. Because we share with the tea party kind of a generalized discontent with our government. So most of us spent the past year watching kind of the train wreck which is the health care debate and I think we were just feeling like there is something very wrong with our government and that is really kind of our starting point. We want to figure out how to get our government to represent us better.
LEMON: So then why not --
PARK: That is really the starting point.
LEMON: So why not just join the tea party then and try to make your difference through the tea party?
PARK: Well, I think what we don't share with them from kind of what I've seen, and I'm not an expert on the tea party, not at all. From what I know about the tea party, it seems like they feel like the federal government is not the solution to the challenges that we face collectively and we agree that there are things very wrong with the federal government right now, but we would like the federal government to work for us, for ordinary Americans and our interests and our needs. We don't want to abandon the federal government because it needs to be treated.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Go ahead. I'm sorry.
PARK: We kind of see the federal government as almost like a patient that needs to be treated. We don't want to abandon the patient. We need to revive it, and have it work for us.
LEMON: You say this is a return to civility. And I don't want to put words in your mouth but do you believe that among the tea partiers that there is not a lot of civility there and so are you countering that by trying to have a civil discussion. Because much of the things it says that you want civility, open dialogue, freedom, fairness, an energized electorate and engagement and you also want diversity as well.
PARK: Yes. Right. I would say that, you know, civility is important because many of us, I think, feel kind of alienated from the political process right now because the political discourse is so divisive and polarized. It just feels like it is either a football game or even ultimate fighting. People are just trying to win points. And it doesn't feel like we are there to work together, cooperate and come to solutions. It feels very alienating.
LEMON: Well, I have to say to you, thank you very much. Let us know how it goes, OK.
Annabel Park, the founder of the Coffee Party movement.
PARK: Thank you.
LEMON: Appreciate it.
PARK: Thank you for having me. (END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And Ms. Park now says she has about 115,000 friends on Facebook. Most of them joining just in the last two weeks or so.
Wicked weather throughout the northeast tonight. Hundreds of thousands of people sitting in the dark and wondering when the power will come back on.
Could you work with your husband or your wife? What if you were running an entire state together? We'll introduce you to a couple that's trying to do that in Georgia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It is our breaking news at the top of this broadcast. We want to go to our Jacqui Jeras now.
Jacqui, you heard the gentleman from Long Island. The head of the emergency department. It could be well into next week before these people get their power back.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know. There's almost a half a million of them. So this is very widespread. And people are going to be suffering this weekend because the winds are going to continue to stay strong. And it's going to be chilly, you know, when it's raining outside, and the temperature are cool. It kind of adds the insult to injury.
We're going to continue to see these strong winds through the overnight hours. But they're going to start to diminish. The storm has peaked, but we could still see 50 mile an hour gusts easy. And that's enough to bring anything down. You know, significant tree limbs could still be coming down, and potentially power lines or anything that was kind of on the brink of coming down previously, could certainly do that.
By the way, we got an update on some of those wind gust reports. 74 miles per hour now officially reported at JFK, a couple of hours ago. So that's the equivalent of a category I hurricane wind gust. So just incredible.
And there you could the sustained winds which continue to stay strong. And this is the kind of damage that they've been doing. This is an iReport from Monica Vanzsant. And that is in the Edgewater Park area of New Jersey. She said she was just shocked at the number of tree limbs and power lines down all over the area. And she said this particular tree was a really, really lucky situation for this family, that it just barely missed that house, but a car did get smashed from that one.
Travel has been nearly impossible at some of the area airports. A lot of rerouting has been taking place. A lot of delays. Five hours max this afternoon at Newark. And you can see we've shaved that down to about three hours. Fewer flights are flying about this time of the day. Now tomorrow, what can you expect? We're going to continue to see these strong winds, gusts of 30 miles per hour tomorrow. So that's still going to cause you plenty of problems. In addition to that, we could see another 1 to 3 inches of rain on top of what you already have.
This is really the big show so to speak across the U.S.A. today. We've got another weak system across the four corners, but you guys are used to seeing this mountain snow and valley rain. This is not a particularly strong storm. This one just amazing.
Before I wrap things up, Don, one other thing I have to remind everybody, before you go to bed tonight. Do it with me?
LEMON: Do I have to?
JERAS: Yes, you do. Daylight Saving Time, one hour, I'm doing it now.
LEMON: And --
JERAS: I want to forget. We all are going to be tired tomorrow. If you miss church tomorrow, you know why. How many people have done that? Raise your hands.
LEMON: You know what, you're such of a mom because you said it correctly. Daylight Saving Time. My mama do that all the time. There's no "S."
JERAS: Yes, there's no "S."
LEMON: Yes. Daylight Saving Time. No "S."
Thank you, Jacqui. And we'll try not to miss church tomorrow. I'll set mine after the show. It's kind of complicated. I don't really know how to do it. That's the truth. Thank you.
We're going to look at some of our top stories right now. Clashes in Somalia's capital have killed at least 75 people this week. That's according to medical sources and eyewitnesses. The Islamist rebel group al Shabaab is waging war on Somali's government. U.S. government considers al Shabaab a terrorist organization, and the group has been linked with al Qaeda. But the U.S. says it won't get directly involved in that conflict.
Here in the U.S., California attorney general Jerry Brown says the death of former teen idol Corey Haim is linked to an illegal prescription drug ring. Brown says his office is investigating what he calls an unauthorized prescription in Haim's name. And the coroner has not ruled on what killed Haim -- or who battled drug addiction, I should say, for years. He died Wednesday at the age of 38.
A doctor in South Korea says former secretary-of-state Henry Kissinger is expected to be released from the hospital tomorrow. Kissinger who is 86 years old was admitted with a stomach virus. Korean media say that Kissinger is in Seoul for a security forum and a meeting with South Korea's president.
For years, a Texas home builder built houses for the wealthy, now Dan Wallrath is building homes, mortgaged, and tax-free for injured veterans. He's our CNN hero of the week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SGT. ALEXANDER REYES, U.S. ARMY: Baghdad ended up being a hell of a ride. I sustained a very severe blast injury. My life just came to a complete halt.
DAN WALLRATH, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: How are you doing? How's everything? You look sharp today.
REYES: Thank you.
WALLRATH: I've been building custom homes for 30 years. One of the most important things for a family is a home.
I want you to read a sign for me.
REYES: Future home of Sergeant Alexander Reyes, United States Army.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.
WALLRATH: Giving these folks a new home means the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just thank you. That's all I can say.
WALLRATH: My name is Dan Wallrath. Five years ago, I had a friend of mine call me. A friend of his, his son had been injured in Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the day after he graduated from boot camp.
WALLRATH: He showed me some pictures. His son was a big strapping Marine. Then he showed me pictures of Steven in the hospital. It just broke my heart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Steven was wheelchair-bound. We were going to have to remodel. I had no idea how I was going to pay for it. Dan just said we're going to take care of it.
WALLRATH: We remodelled that home, and I realized this is not an isolated case. So, I went back to my builder buddies and said we've got to do something.
We build homes for returning heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan. The houses are mortgage-free. It changes the whole family's life.
Welcome home.
It gives them just a new start so that they can move forward.
These young men and women are doing this for you and me. How can I not help them?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: So far Dan and his organization have completed homes for four veterans and began construction on five more. To see how Dan found his inspiration or to nominate someone you think is changing the world, go to CNN.com/Heroes.
A small Georgia city could pay a big price for its budget crunch.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been told that our crime is low. Of course, it's low, because we have the presence of the police department. But without the presence of the police department, you're going to see our crime rate go up.
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LEMON: That's their concern. And that's right, no, police. But will officers really have to turn in their badge?
And tabloid tales? Find out what the "National Enquirer" said that got Barbara Walters talking back.
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LEMON: In our partnership with "Essence" magazine, it's time to talk about "What Matters." Education spending cut and school closures are making a lot of headlines around the country. But it's not just education that is taking a hit. We head to the small town in Georgia. It's called Monticello. It's hit by the same economic slowdown and falling revenues like so many other places. City leaders there like their counterparts all around the country are forced to make some really tough tradeoffs. In this Georgia town, get this, they're about to shutdown the police department.
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LEMON (voice-over): Detective Roberta Andersen has spent 19 years protecting the small road city of Monticello, Georgia and about 2500 people.
(on camera) Is this an area that you are more concerned about? What areas are you concern about?
DET. ROBERTA ANDERSEN, MONTICELLO, GEORGIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: Yes. This is Mason Street.
LEMON (voice-over): But soon, she may have to hang up her badge for good.
ANDERSEN: It's just a shock to everybody. Nobody believed it. I couldn't believe it. But, it was said that they have no money. So, they cannot afford to fund the police department. And it was cut. LEMON: In February, the city council reduced the police force, now there are just three offices. The mayor said barring a miracle, the entire department will probably be gone by July.
(on camera) You don't have enough reserve just to get through this economic downfall to keep a police department?
MAYOR GLENN NEWSOME, MONTICELLO, GEORGIA: Unfortunately, we have no reserve.
LEMON (voice-over): Mayor Glenn Newsome calls it the perfect economic storm. Just as the city was dealing with nationwide problems like declining tax dollars, the real estate bust and unemployment, it was hit by unusually cold winter and the city runs the area's power, gas, and water systems.
NEWSOME: People came in and said, we keep their utility rates. And the council decided to lower the utility rate for electricity. It's called a power cost adjustment. When they lowered that, that reduced anticipated revenue by $250,000 for the remainder of this fiscal year.
LEMON (on camera): And you already had a shortfall.
NEWSOME: We already had a shortfall.
LEMON (voice-over): The city put land up for sale, borrowed money, furloughed employees and cut programs. But even that wasn't enough to save what makes up the biggest part of their budget, the police department.
NEWSOME: I think, the council had no other choice. I mean, I think that was the only place you can't have a deficit. I mean, we just can't do as a federal government. And so, there was no other place to go to get that kind of money.
LEMON: The county sheriff will take over but many here worry about safety.
NICKI WOMACK, MONTICELLO, GA, RESIDENT: We have been told our crime is low. Of course, it's low because we have the presence of the police department. But without the presence of the police department, you are going to see our crime rate go up.
LEMON (voice-over): This week, the city council got an earful from the people of Monticello, demanding they keep the police department. Make other cuts and audit its budget. The council accepted offers by two judges to cut their salaries. It is considering selling laid off police officers their old guns. They will even rent the mayor's office in City Hall, but a motion to save a police department failed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Motion fails by vote of 2 to 3.
LEMON: For now, Detective Andersen and her two remaining colleagues are still on patrol, hopeful that somehow, somewhere, the city will find the money to keep them on the beat well past summer and the seemingly unrelenting economic downturn.
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LEMON: Closing a police department is a drastic move, but it is not unheard of. Byesville, Ohio is the same size as Monticello, and its police department will close at the end of the month. Highwood, Illinois, with about 4500 people is considering the same move, and so as Auburn, Michigan. Population, 2000.
A San Francisco drug lab technician accused of taking her work home with her. The alleged impropriety could get thousands of narcotics cases thrown out.
And a game of chicken on the high seas between a $3 million speedboat and the whaling ship. One of them lost, and it sank. Those stories are coming up, next, in the news you missed.
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LEMON: All right, every weekend we bring you interesting news items that you might have missed during the week. Look.
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All right, that's awfully close.
All right, talk about drama on the high seas. Look at this. A heart-stopping video off the coast of Australia. A $3 million speedboat belonging to anti-whaling activist playing chicken with a giant Japanese whaling ship. The pricey little boat, of course, it lost. The skipper of the speedboat was taken into custody by the whaling captain. The whaling ship has now arrived back in Tokyo with its prisoners who was properly arrested by the Japanese coast guard. Now the case is attracting a huge amount of attention in Japan, where whaling has strong cultural support despite international condemnation.
In San Francisco, hundreds of narcotics cases are in jeopardy because of a scandal in the city's crime lab. At the center of it, a 60-year-old lab technician accused of stealing evidence for her own use. She has since retired. Prosecutor appear hundreds, perhaps thousands of cases have been compromised.
It may not be a first, but it doesn't happen often. A husband and wife team running for governor and lieutenant governor. Georgia state lawmaker Dubos Porter, well, he entered the democratic race for governor last year. His wife, Carol, was drafted to fill in for him in a debate last month. She got favorable reviews, and now she is in the democratic race for lieutenant governor.
When I spoke with them, I asked Carol why she got into that race.
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CAROL PORTER, CANDIDATE FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA: One, there was no one in the race. (LAUGHTER)
I'm the only one on the Democratic side in the race.
LEMON: That's a good reason.
CAROL PORTER: I know the issues. I had been campaigning for Dubose around the state. People are fed up and they need a voice, and I'm the voice for them.
LEMON: How do you respond when people say -- I'll let her talk about it. I want to ask you about, that her candidacy is to boost you, is to help you in your run.
DUBOSE PORTER, CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA: Well, if it helps the things we want to get done in education and higher education and move the state forward, let's have more of it. I mean, yes, it's innovative. But this is someone who's a strong mother, a businesswoman, someone who knows policy as good as anybody in the state.
LEMON: So people are saying, in that question comes some thinking it might be a political ploy. How do you respond to that?
CAROL PORTER: You know, if this is a gimmick that will get corruption out of Georgia, I'll take a dozen. It's time for a citizen to get up to the plate. I've got a great opportunity here. I know the issues. And the people need a voice.
LEMON: What about qualifications? Other people say, she's not qualified to do this?
CAROL PORTER: So are we only supposed to have career politicians forever? Not have any citizens' step up to the plate? I've been a general manager. I've raised four Eagle Scout sons. I've volunteered. I've been the president of several organizations. What qualifies you? I'm definitely qualified.
DUBOSE PORTER: Plus, Carol has done the research for me and helped me in my campaigns for 26 years. No one knows the issues, no one knows the people, no one knows the needs of Georgians any better than Carol Porter.
CAROL PORTER: Someone said, are you going to be the dorm mother over there in the Senate? And I said, yes, I am. I'm going to call them out on it. And I'm just going to say, no, this is not what would be best for the people.
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LEMON: Spoken like a proud mom. She said she's raise four Eagle Scouts son.
The last couple to try this were Maryland Republicans William and Lois Shepard and they lost big back in 1990s.
What could send the cast of "The View" into such a tizzy?
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BARBARA WALTERS, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": That's something totally, totally untrue. You never called me.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Nobody called me to ask me.
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LEMON: Half the time I don't know what they're saying, because they're always talking over each other. Barbara and the ladies, right, taking on the tabloids.
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LEMON: Barbara Walters takes on "The National Enquirer." Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barbara Walters was dishing it out, and the main course was --
WALTERS: This is just baloney.
MOOS: With the side helping of --
GOLDBERG: They're crap.
MOOS: It comes just when the "National Enquirer" is finally getting respect accepted into the Pulitzer Prize competition for its coverage of the John Edwards' affair. Edwards had to eat his words of denial.
JOHN EDWARDS, FORMER SENATOR, NORTH CAROLINA: Tabloid trash is full of lies.
I made a very serious mistake.
MOOS: But it wasn't the John Edwards copy Barbara was reading to the Enquirer's editor.
WALTERS: After 3 months of dating, Barbara has moved to Frank Langella who is an actor who is a friend of mine, a friend of Whoopi's into her New York apartment, and friends say a summer wedding is in the works.
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I looked all over my house. I can't find him.
MOOS (on-camera): He may be the executive editor of the "National Enquirer," but Barbara Walters was the one doing all the inquiring. WALTERS: Barbara and Frank moved in together in January, and he popped the question soon after. Barbara has secured Whoopi's blessing.
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MOOS: The Enquirer reported Whoopi used to date Langella, seen here playing Count Dracula.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blood of my blood.
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MOOS: The blood being spilled here was the editor, Barry Levine.
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WALTERS: You're thinking something totally, totally untrue. You never called me.
GOLDBERG: Nobody called me to ask me jack.
BARRY LEVINE, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, NATIONAL ENQUIRER: All I can say, Barbara, is that we trust our sources. There are people around you --
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LEVINE: Barbara, did you go out on dates with Frank?
WALTERS: I have lots of friends whom I go out with, and so does Whoopi, but it doesn't mean that somebody is living in my apartment.
LEVINE: We will look into the story again. I promise you.
WALTERS: Oh, baloney!
MOOS: In the words of Count Dracula --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need your blood.
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MOOS: So do the tabloids blood end.
WALTERS: Baloney.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN --
WALTERS: Baloney. MOOS: New York.
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LEMON: Don't forget to spring ahead one hour. Good night.
