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Latest on Gulf Oil Leak; "Stepsisters"; Prescription Drug Abuse Rising; Corridor of Cruelty; Oakland Police Lay-Offs
Aired July 17, 2010 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. More now on the critical oil test in the Gulf in just a moment. But first some of the other headlines we're following for you.
Nine children are hospitalized after a church camp bus overturned in eastern Kansas. Their condition is not known right now.
And there's good news from Hackensack, New Jersey, despite earlier fears that there were no bodies under the rubble of a three-story parking garage in Hackensack, New Jersey. At first they thought people might be trapped.
And BP's 48-hour test of the new cap was ended just a few minutes, but the oil giant now says pressure testing on the under water well will continue. CNN's David Mattingly has been following this from the very beginning, he is joining us right now from New Orleans. So David what is the latest?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredericka, here we are at the end of that 48-hour test. And the well seems to be passing with flying colors. So far, they have seen no leaks of oil or gas out of this well as that pressure has continued to climb. But here at the end of that 48 hours, there's talk of maybe testing a little bit longer. Part of that abundance of caution that set in for the people who are doing the testing.
BP today indicating that they are continuing to be encouraged as each hour goes by and that pressure goes up a couple of pounds per square inch every single hour just like they expected to see. So everything going well at this point. But no one preparing to say when a decision's going to be made or what kind of decision will be coming about the future of this well. But the bottom line here is, 48 hours have gone by and Fredericka, there has been no oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.
WHITFIELD: And so what does this mean for the overall cleanup efforts?
MATTINGLY: Well, the fact that they have no oil coming up to the surface has given the Coast Guard a great opportunity. They tell us that they have been able to go on the offensive and not on the defensive. They're able to go after the patches of oil that are out there, commit a lot more resources to some of these areas instead of trying to catch the new oil that's coming up, as well. So they feel like they're really getting something done out there right now, and they're also having a good window of weather right now. So they're feeling like that things are finally turning a corner with that well shut off, no new product coming up to the surface. They are able to really tackle that spill that is out there and continues to menace the coastline.
WHITFIELD: David Mattingly in New Orleans thanks so much for that.
In the meantime, President Obama has escaped the summer heat of Washington as well. But the political heat well that is an entirely different thing. White House correspondent Susan Malveaux traveling with the first family as they are vacationing there in a very picturesque clear sky, as the weather report comes with it too, Bar Harbor, Maine.
SUSAN MALVEAUX, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. It is absolutely gorgeous here. You see Frenchman Bay right behind me and bar island. That island out there. Obviously this is a place where people around the world come to see for whale watching, kayaking, bicycling, and the great lobster, you name it. This is where the first families decided to spend a little down time.
We saw them yesterday that are when they were hiking along Cadillac Mountain. They then decided to go on a little boat tour in the harbor and stop by for some ice cream, took some pictures with the local residents. Obviously a lot of excitement about their trip here. There are some people, however, some critics, some Republicans who are questioning whether or not now is a good time to take a break.
There are also some at the Gulf Coast who said, look, you know, the president has been encouraging people to come down and vacation there because business has gone so badly. And obviously the president say says, look, you know, help out the folks there. And he's chosen to go up north as opposed to south. Here's how one woman put it when she talked to CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIA REED, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEWSWEEK:" The president needs to vacation wherever he wants to. I want him to get his head straight and have a lot of rest. What I'd rather him do is come down here and really -- instead of just the four very brief trips he's made and really understand what's happening on the ground. The disconnect between Washington and what's happening here is still huge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, Fred, in all fairness to the president, he said that he's going to be heading to the Gulf Coast in the next couple of weeks obviously to talk to the officials about how things are going with the cleanup efforts there and obviously to speak to residents who have been devastated by that oil spill.
We happened to come across an art gallery here that made these special posters. The proceeds are going to the Gulf residents, the Gulf coast residents. So clearly there's a connection that some of the folks here who live here feel with those who are at the Gulf of Mexico. I also want to bring up a point here, Fred, just to give you a larger context.
My colleague of CBS, Mark Knoller who keeps all presidential records, he says if you look at the 18-month mark, President Obama has taken about 65 vacation days compared to President Bush at this time, it was 216 days. So clearly that's kind of the bigger picture, and the last point is that all presidents when they're on vacation, never really always on vacation. They're always kind of checking in with a lot of other things they've got going on.
WHITFIELD: Working vacations. OK. Well, as presidential comparisons go, this is a place that President William Taft seemed to like to vacation, that was 100 years ago. So why did this president say Bar Harbor is the place that me and my family would like to be?
MALVEAUX: One of the things that the first family is doing that they've made a point is that they want to take the daughters Sasha and Malia to national treasures around the United States. And remember last year, it was the Grand Canyon. This year, it's Acadia National Park. And that's why you see some of those gorgeous pictures of the first family walking along, hiking along that Cadillac Mountain. That is part of that national treasure. That's one of the reasons they came here.
Obviously the gorgeous weather and a chance to escape some of the crowds in the Washington scene that they've become accustomed to. But every president wants to escape every once in awhile.
WHITFIELD: Right and I see no crowds where you are. You've got a nice bird's eye view.
MALVEAUX: It's gorgeous, Fred.
WHITFIELD: It looks gorgeous.
MALVEAUX: We'll emphasize working vacation, because our bosses are watching.
WHITFIELD: It's not that pretty. It's tough, it's tough. We know it's hard. All right. Susan Malveaux.
MALVEAUX: Tough duty.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, enjoy Bar Harbor.
Well, take a listen and look at this. When a white sorority enters a black theft show and wins, it sparks a national debate. Well check out what happened when a producer decided to add the incident to his movie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALONZO ANDERSON, WRITER/PRODUCER, "STEPSISTERS:" I cast some actresses, and some white actresses. And they actually chose not to do the project because in some scenes they would have to kiss a black actor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Interesting stuff we're getting in step with the cast of "Stepsisters" of the movie.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. The video became an Internet sensation. Now a story based on the stepping sensation is heading to Hollywood. We're talking about the white sorority that entered and won a black college stepping contest. Our T.J. Holmes talks to the producer and several of the stars of "Stepsisters" the movie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is how it all started. February of this year, members of a white sorority from Arkansas shocked the audience with creativity and precision worthy of a champion. When their victory hit the Internet, it went viral and became black radio talk show fodder. A week later, a scoring error led to the declaration of a tie between the white zetas and a black sorority from Indiana University. Movie producer Alonzo Anderson was following it all.
ANDERSON: I think the thing is that the fact that the novelty of an all-white sorority stepping may influence the judges somewhat. But still, they were good. Black, white, it doesn't matter, they were good. And that's really ticked me off. It kind of tracked it away from what they accomplished and made it about race when it's about competition.
HOLMES: Anderson was preparing to shoot the movie "Stepsisters" in Atlanta, a coming of age film about two best friends, a white one and black one who grew up together and even went to the same college, a black one, that's when race threatened to destroy their childhood bond.
ANDERSON: When I originally wrote this project, the stepping element wasn't that huge of a part of it. It was more about the inner personal side of it and about the race relation. And then seeing what happened with the step-off with the girls from Arkansas, that motivated me to say, hey, wait a minute. This is a great backdrop for what this project is trying to say.
HOLMES: The movie focuses on two step teams. One black and one mostly white. The script could have been taken from pages of the life of actress Angela Phillips who plays the white lead.
ANGELA PHILLIPS, ACTRESS, "STEPSISTERS:" I actually went to a high school with my best friend who happened to be black. I went to that school knowing that there wasn't going to be as many white people as we had went to school with in the past. And when I got there things quickly changed. And we weren't best friends anymore and there was a huge gap between us which society -- was the fault of society due to how races -- there are so many people going through that in our society today. Whether it be black, white, Asian, Latino, it's something that children and young people face every day.
HOLMES: Her co-star Jennifer Sears agrees.
JENNIFER SEARS, ACTRESS, "STEPSISTERS:" I'd never expected to see the type of uproar that we received just by having a black president. But it's just -- the black people are saying be black enough and the white people are saying I'm not comfortable having a black president. I thought by 2010 we'd be so much further along. But we're growing.
HOLMES: Race also hampered finding actors.
ANDERSON: I had some actresses and some white actresses, and they actually chose not to do the project because in some scenes they would have to kiss a black actor. And here it is 2010, we're working on a film that's socially relevant where people actually learn from it and still I have actors who refuse to work with other actors because of race.
HOLMES: No such problem for this cast. In fact, they're hoping "Stepsisters" where art imitates life becomes a tool for teaching.
MUSLIMAH HASAN, ACTRESS, "STEPSISTERS:" I think it'll get people talking because it happens obviously it stemmed somewhat from a real life event. There was an uproar about it. A lot of people had their yeas and nees about it. So I think it definitely will be something to talk about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. T.J. Holmes reporting there, the movie "Stepsisters" is still in production in Atlanta and it is scheduled to hit theaters sometime next year.
All right. Josh Levs is coming up next with a look at the web's most watched videos. We like to call it "Viral Videos." What do you have?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, he is the new Internet phenom who freaked out about a rainbow and triggered a new popular song. I've got that for you.
Plus, the world's largest skateboards that can fit a dozen people. And the adorable video of the week. All of that coming up right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. A church camp bus crash has sent nine children to the hospital. No word on their conditions. There were 27 kids on board the bus when it overturned in eastern Kansas. The accident is currently under investigation.
And tests are looking good on the new containment cap that is keeping oil from flowing into the Gulf. BP plans to continue the test just as a precaution. Engineers are checking for possible leaks in the well war under the seabed. And a Chicago area man is locked up after allegedly ramming a car bomb into the front of a bank. No one was injured since the bank was empty at the time, and no word on the motive. The bomb was made of the same materials used as in fireworks.
All right. The music, the graphic kind of gets us wound up for the viral video rewind.
LEVS: And today we're going to commit a healthy chunk to this new mega viral video. This was the anatomy of something incredibly viral. It's called double rainbow guy.
WHITFIELD: Double rainbow.
LEVS: I'm going to show you how it happened. It starts with a video. This guy's at Yosemite National Park, he's filming. We'll let you know what's happening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Double rainbow, oh my god, it's a double rainbow all the way. Whoa, this is so intense. Whoa. Man, wow. Whoa. Whoa! Oh, my god! Oh, my god.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: So he's just freaked out.
WHITFIELD: He's really happy about those double rainbows.
LEVS: And he actually posted this in January. And Jimmy Kimmel sent out a tweet about this might be the funniest one ever. Listen to the next section of the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Oh! It's so bright! Oh! It's so beautiful!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh, he's crying.
LEVS: He's crying. I really like this guy. I love him. He starts crying because he's so moved by the beauty of this double rainbow. So everyone starts watching this. They're all like, wow. Now he becomes a phenom and there is a song celebrating this video. And we're about to meet him in a minute. But here's the song celebrating this. You've got to hear the version of this. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): That's a whole rainbow, man double rainbow all the way across the sky double rainbow
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEVS: The double rainbow song by the Gregory Brothers. They're well known for auto tuning the news. They took this video, set it to music. Now he and they are splitting the proceeds. He loves this song. He loves it. They love it.
WHITFIELD: Well, because now he's getting a little bank. I guess he does love it.
LEVS: He talked to CNN about this. Here's what he told us.
WHITFIELD: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL VASQUEZ, "DOUBLE RAINBOW:" Oh, my god, full-on, I'm the double rainbow man. I didn't expect I was going to go viral. When it filled up with color at that point it was so intense, it knocked me down. That's when I started questioning it, what does this mean?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right. Go back to a little bit of the music here. We're going to play a little bit more of this song. This is now one of my favorite songs in existence. The video became so popular; they now made the video available, the song on itunes. We were talking before --
No one has any idea why -- it's just randomly there. People are downloading it and so they're making some money off of it. So once in a while, these can make money.
WHITFIELD: A lot of time is spent for some people who kind of invest some time in creativity to end up getting on the web and they go viral. And is money an incentive?
LEVS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Many times?
LEVS: Well, no.
WHITFIELD: I didn't realize people were going to be making so much money, but apparently people are.
LEVS: That is right and here is the thing. The best viral videos to me are like this. The best viral videos are ones that clearly as far as you can tell did not intend to be. It's just a moment that happened. The early ones from numa-numa kid until now, it's a moment of life captured. But there are people all the time trying to create the next hot one because they want this kind of success. They want to go up on itunes, they want to be able to sell -- youtube makes rentals available. This is a good example.
WHITFIELD: What a business. There's more, isn't there?
LEVS: There is. Links to all of this stuff on my facebook page, Josh Levs CNN. Every week I give you an adorable video.
WHITFIELD: With pets or little babies.
LEVS: This week we've got a kitty cat. This is a cat trying to get into a half-eaten cake. But it's --
WHITFIELD: Oh, I see it's on top of the case.
LEVS: Yes. It's trying to get through.
WHITFIELD: I want that cake.
LEVS: OK. And I'll say it --
WHITFIELD: There's a good thing there was a case on that cake because that cake would have been all over the wall.
LEVS: And it's not giving up. That thing is ready to paw right through. This was originally posted in 2008. But the viral video sharing site sometimes just catches on to these videos out of nowhere. Goes off on the big ones. All of a sudden everyone clicks on it, about 180,000 views. But we said before, animals don't have to do anything. You put them up there and everyone wants to see it.
WHITFIELD: Cute little kitty too.
LEVS: And everybody has a where do they find the time video?
WHITFIELD: I'm like, who, where, why?
LEVS: In this case, you had to know they're at a camp. The world's largest skateboard ever. Take a look at this. Big enough that it can actually fit 20 people on it.
WHITFIELD: OK.
LEVS: I love this. They tried to set a world record -- at Pennsylvania at Camp Woodward.
WHITFIELD: That is looking like a really -- this is almost like from the movie "Big" or something.
LEVS: It is. Look at that, look at that.
WHITFIELD: It's a good thing he jumped off.
LEVS: Has more than 2 million views. And that's a summer project there.
WHITFIELD: Everybody wants to jump on. Can they put more than one person on at a time ever?
LEVS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Absolutely.
LEVS: You see more and more people on.
WHITFIELD: Everybody holds on.
LEVS: Hold on for dear life. You wouldn't want to get on that, would you?
WHITFIELD: I actually would. I would do that.
LES: By the way, the music, you heard a little bit of it during that video. They play Abba with this song called "Gimme, Gimme" I post all the videos so you can see them. And while you're there, you tell us your favorites, facebook.com/joshlevscnn. Tomorrow we will have some of your favorites, as well. And we'll bring a rainbow --
WHITFIELD: That could have been a little Zen-like, the rainbow. Come on, now. I'm with it now. Delayed reaction. But OK. I'm feeling it. Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Much more straight ahead including a milestone reached in the Gulf oil disaster.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: We have hit the 48-hour mark in BP's test of the new cap on its ruptured underwater well. No oil has leaked from the well since the cap was put into place on Thursday. The 48-hour test was designed, rather, to figure out the condition of the well. What kind of pressure is taking place there, et cetera? BP says all looks fine thus far, and they're continuing to do a few more tests just to make sure.
So let's bring in CNN's David Mattingly who is in New Orleans and CNN producer Vivian Kuo who is here in the studio with me. Let's have a little discussion about what might be next. Vivian you first, no oil is flowing, yet this might be temporary, right?
VIVIAN KUO, CNN PRODUCER: It might be. It just depends on this crucial pressure tests they're undergoing if they find any evidence of leaks which to this point they haven't at all. If they find any evidence they could open up the valve and oil released once again. Now, that's something that we certainly don't want. Again, no indicators of that.
WHITFIELD: OK, and so, David, is BP touting some success here? Are they proceeding with caution feeling that, you know, if they continue these tests and it seems that there is a reduction in pressure that would mean that there's a leak somewhere, right?
MATTINGLY: Well, every hour that goes by gives them that much more confidence. Every hour the pressure goes up a little bit more, about two pounds per square inch, they say this is doing exactly what they thought it would do. And it's telling them that this well has integrity that so far they've seen no leaks, and it's exactly what they wanted to see. So, the longer this holds, the longer the good news keeps coming out like this, the more confident they're going to be to perhaps keep this well closed in. But that decision is not going to be up to BP, that's going to be up to the joint command.
WHITFIELD: And so, how, David, if you're able to tell me, how do they conduct these tests? Is this too, strictly by robotics? How do they monitor, is it strictly BP or is there a third party involved here? Perhaps even a wing of the federal government that's involved in checking the pressure.
MATTINGLY: Well, it's a combination of both, but it's BP following the pressure. It's BP right that has the remote operating vehicles down there on the bottom that's actually visually scanning the area, watching for any signs of seepage up from the ocean floor, watching for any signs of bubbles of perhaps methane coming up. They're also doing sonic testing, acoustic testing to check and see if there's some oil escaping or detected, somewhere, some movement that they may not be able to see, visually. They're also conducting seismic testing to check sort of like an MRI, sort of, the ocean floor to see if there's any place where a water down there around the well site might be getting displaced by oil.
So they're watching all this, using all of this technology, and they also have a ship from NOAA that has been called in to further augment the monitoring that they're doing. So, both sides are committing resources to this, both sides are watching what comes back, and so far, both sides are getting the same thing that this well seems to be holding.
WHITFIELD: Interesting, so David and Vivian, a lot of operations are taking place simultaneously as they try to monitor in these various fashions the pressure taking place in that well. At the same time, they're still drilling this relief well and they're very close to completion, right?
KUO: That's exactly right. David really hit on the key point, there. While the cap itself is going to be held at the discretion of Unified Area Command, the relief well is all BP at this point. They're very close. They're very close to setting this up, what they're calling a final casing point.
WHITFIELD: And this is kind of a graphic of how it would work.
KUO: Yeah, it's pretty complicated, there. So basically, they're working using electromagnetic sensing to detect where the existing leaking well is and where their current relief well is, where it's going to intersect, where the two wells will come to a point, essentially. And they still anticipate that to happen by the end of July.
WHITFIELD: And all this while efforts are still taking place -- this is all the steps taking place underwater. And so David, I'm bringing you back into the equation -- above the water surface surface, there are other efforts underway there. The skimmer's in place by the dozens, correct, that are trying to collect the existing oil? But now it's an issue of collecting the oil on the surface or that's bubbling to the surface as opposed to oil that continues to spew, because right now it's not, right, David? MATTINGLY: Right now -- yeah, right now, this is the best 48 hours they've had since this crisis began. They have been out there going after patches of oil, being able to commit resources to these areas of existing oil and not having to worry about new oil that's coming up. So, they have been on offense, as they describe it, and not on defense. They've really been able to be aggressive and make progress they haven't been able to in the past. Because they commit their resources to one area where they know there's oil and all of a sudden there's oil coming up over here. Well, that's not happening now.
The oil that's out there is a finite amount now. It's not infinite. There's no new oil coming out there. So, they're able to make better plans and attack this in a more unified fashion.
WHITFIELD: OK, so there are little minor victories here, because I think everyone universally would agree it's nice there isn't any more spewing oil, even if this is temporary, at least it means capturing the oil in place right now.
KUO: That's exactly right. Yeah. It's sort of the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. But, as we know, even if the well integrity tests come out and they declare the well structurally sound, again, we still have to get the relief well to fully plug the leak itself at the source. But from then on, the Gulf Coast still has to do all of that cleanup, so it could just be the beginning, essentially. We've still got months of work to do.
WHITFIELD: Lots of layers of work, here. CNN producer, Vivian Kuo, thanks so much. And in New Orleans, our David Mattingly who's also been the story from the very beginning. Thanks so much to both of you, appreciate it.
All right, well there is more for sale at Baltimore's historic Lexington market than fresh produce, these days. It is home to a thriving business, the illegal sale of prescription drugs. Details in a CNN investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, a look at our top stories, right now. It has been a bloody two days for NATO forces in Afghanistan. Three were killed today, including one American and one British soldier in the eastern and southern parts of the country. Two more NATO troops, including one American were killed in an improvised bomb attack, Friday. More than 100 coalition troops were killed in June, 60 of them Americans.
And U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is heading to Afghanistan, today, for an international conference on the war. The meeting, which includes some 70 other nations begins on Tuesday. After her stay in Kabul, Clinton is scheduled to visit South Korea and Vietnam.
And alarmed by a rising tide of violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is ordering the deployment of National Guard troops. President Obama requested the help to beef up the border security. Last month, the president proposed sending some 1,200 troops to America's southwest border. Some 224 of them are expected to be in California. The deployment may last a year.
And the FDA is warning Johnson & Johnson about manufacturing problems with another over-the-counter drug plant in Pennsylvania. It has concerns over the facility in Lancaster that makes Mylanta, Pepcid and Imodium. But, it's just a warning, right now. There are no known health concerns or plans for recalls. You'll remember that the company had to recall millions of doses of Tylenol and Motrin products because of plant problems.
Prescription drug abuse is rising at an alarming rate. A new government study found 400 percent increase in the past decade. CNN's Amber Lyon has been looking into the epidemic for months now. In a special investigation, she takes us to a Baltimore landmark that has turned into a street pharmacy for addicts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here in the center of downtown Baltimore, because we got a tip that there's a huge problem with the street trade of illegal prescription drugs.
(MUSIC)
(BEGIN GRAPHIC)
Baltimore, MD
Population 637,000
Heroin addicts, 55,000 And now, a thriving trade in prescription drugs.
(END GRAPHIC)
LYON: We're pulling up on it right now. This is where we're headed this morning. It's the Lexington Market. It's a historic landmark here in Baltimore, but, unfortunately, lately, it's just become overrun with prescription drug abusers, dealers.
Up and down these streets, everyone is trafficking pills. We found OxyContin, Xanax.
(voice-over): All over America, in places where the drug trade flourishes, prescription drugs have replaced or supplemented better- known street drugs, like meth, crack, heroin.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is having a difficult time getting a grasp on the pill trade. So, they start from the bottom, busting individuals, hoping that will lead them to correct doctors and pharmacies.
AVA COOPER-DAVIS, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION: We are going to try to pull them out of the market, hopefully, and get them to do the buy outside.
LYON (on camera): OK. So, where are we going to ride? Kind of in the back?
COOPER-DAVIS: T he issue is, in the mind of many, prescription drugs is not as bad and it's not as dangerous. And, in reality, it really is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lexington Market.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to be parking right -- right around there.
LYON: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see the agents up there on the corner with their jackets on. They're taking them down if you guys want to hop out here.
LYON: You guys just busted how many people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was two.
LYON: Two people?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
LYON: And what were they selling you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Suboxone, which is...
LYON (voice-over): Suboxone is an opiate blocker used to treat heroin addiction. It's also hard to abuse. So, anyone buying it and selling it isn't trying to get high. They're just trying to fight the pain of withdrawal. But even out here, pills like Suboxone have become a valuable commodity, like an ATM in a bottle.
COOPER-DAVIS: Even though this prescription and these type of pills is meant for someone who has a problem, yet, again, they are going out on the street and they're selling it for -- you know, making $100, $200 more than what the actual cost of that prescription was to get it filled. The bottom line to move in prescription drugs is profit. It's about making money.
LYON (on camera): We're hear at DEA headquarters, and we're headed to talk with a guy who was just busted in Lexington Market.
Let's see if he will talk with us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as I'm not identified.
LYON: You're not identified. We won't give your name. And we're not showing your face. So, you agree to talk with us? We're with CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
LYON: Why are people selling their prescription medications in Lexington Market?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reason people sell their prescriptions down there is because a lot of them don't have no jobs. A lot of them don't know where they going to get their next meal from.
Let's say your son come up to you this morning and say, I need $25, $30. You ain't got that $25 or $30. You got them pills on you, you know you can get that 25. Would you go sell them for -- to get your son that $25, so he can be in that play or something? Would you do that?
LYON (voice-over): Baltimore already has a huge heroin and crack problem. They've been struggling with those drugs for decades. So, the last thing this city needs is a new enemy, like the prescription drugs being peddled in Lexington Market.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And in a report issued just last month, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that one in five high school-aged kids used prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them. Only marijuana and alcohol ranked higher.
Ending animal abuse, it's the mission of a "CNN Hero," she's trying to clean up the "Corridor of Cruelty." You'll meet her, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, there's a strip of land in Houston that's part of a nationwide problem. It's called the "Corridor of Cruelty" where abused animals are dumped and left to die. This week's "CNN Hero" stumbled across this gruesome place and simply could not turn her back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH HOFFMAN, CORRIDOR RESCUE: Right now I'm headed out to the corridor of cruelty. It's basically a dumping ground for live and dead animals. The first time I ever went to the corridor, I realized there was strays everywhere, so many dogs that were starving, dogs with broken legs. And I prayed and I prayed that somehow I could be inspired to do something to help.
I'm Debra Hoffman and my calling in life is to save neglected, abused, and abandoned animals. This street is one of the major dumping grounds. We'll find dogs that we believe were used in dog fighting in large trash bags.
BELINDA SMITH, ASST DISTRICT ATTY: Debra Hoffman was a person who brought to our attention the fact that the "Corridor of Cruelty" even existed. This area seems to have more criminal activity associated with animal cruelty.
HOFFMAN: We think this one was used in dog fighting. He was pretty beat up when he came in.
SMITH: Debra is saving the animals. And because of her, there are some happy endings in this situation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Lotto" brings a lot of joy to my life. He's a good boy.
HOFFMAN: It's truly a miracle to take a dog like "Lotto" in that condition off the street and then putting him in a loving home with someone like Joan.
This is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. When I'm 85, I'll be on my laptop trying to save an animal from my rocking chair.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Too sweet. So if you know anyone who deserves to be a "CNN Hero," just like her, log on to CNNheroes.com and tell us about the person that you admire and that that everybody else needs to learn about.
All right, coming up, a less than perfect beach vacation. Swimmers in southern California are being warned, watch your feet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, guess what? There's a stingray problem in the San Diego area. More than 100 people have been stung over the past few days. Stingrays are common in the area, but there seem to be more of them this year. Swimmers are being told to do the stingray shuffle, shuffling their feet along the bottom to scare the stingrays away.
And the heat goes on. Heat advisories are in effect in 17 states today from New Jersey to California. So, let's get some details now from Bonnie Schneider. Of course, if you're in California, southern California, you're trying to get to the beach but now you have to watch for the stingrays as you try to escape the heat.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Those guys, they sting. That really is painful.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, that little barb is serious.
(WEATHER REPORT)
SCHNEIDER: I want to talk about severe weather. As we look toward the Caribbean, we're always monitoring the tropics this time of year for activity and, yes, it is very stormy. One place the storms got extremely severe was in Puerto Rico. Let's that a look at some pictures of tornado damage.
WHITFIELD: Oh my, that's serious.
This is in Mayagus, Puerto Rico. Very serious. At least three people were injured by this twister that really tore through Mayagus, which is right here. Here's San Juan, you can see Mayagus is located more toward the west coast of Puerto Rico, right along the water. Normally a beautiful area, but look at all the red on the map. This is an indication of very active weather in the tropics and it's certainly active in other places, too. I mentioned the heat. Well, sometimes the heat builds and you get big-time thunderstorms. That's happening in Minnesota, right now. A tornado warning in effect for Douglas and Todd Counties until 2:45 Local Time, plus a tornado watch for a good portion of Minnesota including St. Cloud and Minneapolis until 9:00 tonight. So, severe weather for Minnesota, parts of Iowa into Wisconsin. It's going to be a stormy and hot day across the United States for a Saturday in July. It's definitely heating up.
WHITFIELD: Hot in July. All right. Thanks so much, Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, coming up, there is a big crime problem going on in Oakland, California. And the problem is not enough police to respond to the crimes. The budget seems to be to blame.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, some rather big salaries in a little town have a lot of people upset in one Los Angeles area. We're talking about Bell, California, population close to 40,000. It's one of the poorest cities in Los Angeles County. Nearly 1/4 of the population lives below the poverty line. An "L.A. Times" report finds the city manager of Bell makes close to $800,000 a year. His assistant brings home nearly $380,000 a year.
Bell's police chief pulls in $457,000 a year. That's about 50 grand more than L.A.'s police chief and twice that of the New York police commissioner. Well, Bell's residents are shocked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's shocking. It's -- did they go to school for this? How do they get it? They're making more than the president. That's totally not fair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They promise a lot of things and all it is their wallets are just getting fatter and fatter. Our taxes are continue to rise and rise and they have money for nothing but themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The mayor credits the city manager for putting Bell back on sound financial footing. The steep salaries don't appear to break any laws, however. But the district attorney is investigating why Bell city council members make about $100,000 for part-time jobs.
All right, on the other side of the coin, police in Oakland, California are being laid off because of a massive budget shortfall there. The cuts are leading to uncertainty for residents who are now being told not to call 9-1-1 for a host of nonviolent crimes. Here's CNN's Dan Simon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAN SIMON, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Oakland already has the state's highest violent crime rate and one of the highest in the nation. These images of rioting last week only make the officer reductions less palatable.
(voice-over): Is this the worst you have seen things?
SGT DOM AROTZARENA, OAKLAND POLICE OFFICER ASSOC: Yeah. Oh, this is terrible. I mean, let there be no doubt, the loss of 80 officers is terrible for here in Oakland. This is a dangerous place to be for a police officer.
SIMON (voice-over): With 80 officers getting cut, police brass have said officers would no longer be able to respond in person for a multitude of calls including car accidents, grand theft, those failing to register as sex offenders.
OFFICER JEFFREY THOMASON, OAKLAND POLICE: We go on the same motto where people say you can do more with less. We're not going to be able to do that anymore. We're doing less with less.
SIMON (on camera): If someone poisons my dog, you won't come out there?
JEFFREY: Correct.
SIMON (voice-over): No one wanted 80 officers to lose their jobs, but the city, phasing a $38 million deficit could not reach a compromise with the police officers over pension and the possibility of future lay-offs. The union wanted a guarantee that no one would be laid off for at least three years. The city guaranteed just one year.
JAY FACTORA, FMR POLICE OFFICER: There is nothing I regret as far as joining the department. It was, you know, one of the best, you know, I'll say, you know, definitely one of the top three things in my life other than my daughter being born and, you know, being married.
SIMON: Jay Factora was among those who turned in their badges and weapons. He joined the force a year and a half ago. After two tours of duty in Iraq, he hopes the cuts will be temporary.
FACTORA: This is where I grew up. This is my home. You know, I'm not going to leave it and I'm not going to abandon it, you know, I'm going to wait until the, you know, hopefully the department at some point opens the doors back up and allows us to come back and I'll be the first one in line.
SIMON: But city officials say next year's deficit could be higher. As things set in last night, they blame these current layoffs or the reluctance of officers to face budget reality.
JANE BRUNNER, OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT: There is no agreement. The officers will be laid off today. They rejected our last proposal and they did not give us a counter from our last proposal.
SIMON (on camera): When you talk about eliminating 80 officers, how do you determine who loses their jobs?
AROTZARENA: Well, how it's determined is by last person hired is usually the first person to be let go. And that's how that was determined.
SIMON: This all comes on the heels of a report by an independent watchdog group which actually said the city should be hiring more police officers, 400 more police officers to deal with the city's astronomical crime rate, that would also put it on par with cities of a similar size.
Dan Simon, CNN, Oakland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
