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Oil Cleanup Not Over; Escapees Maybe in Yellowstone; Police Riot in Juarez; Violence in the Workplace; San Francisco Sting; Paralyzed Surfers Hit the Waves; Hair Battle Spectacular
Aired August 08, 2010 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Allan Chernoff joins us now from New York where he's learning more about one of the victims, New York optometrist Tom Little. And Allan, this is just a terrible, terrible story about people who are just trying to do some good in a very difficult part of the world.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Jim. Selfless really is the word. Team leader was Tom Little. He's from upstate New York. But he had been living in Afghanistan with his wife for 33 years. He did not just travel there for a couple of weeks. He was based there, providing aid, eye care to the Afghans for 33 years, along with his wife. They raised their three children there. Their house was hit by rockets during wartime. They frequently were stopped. He had many dangerous encounters. But he was passionate. He firmly felt that he was doing god's work and that is the reason that he persisted. And, of course, tragically, he was killed on Thursday.
We spoke with his wife earlier and let's have a listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIBBY LITTLE, WIFE OF SLAIN AID WORKER TOM LITTLE: We've often just stopped everything when they've held us, sort of hostage. Saying, well, we're not going to let you go any - any further. Then we'll do, we'll do eye care on them or serve them. That's OK, and then they'd let us go. Drinking tea and sitting in their shepherd's hut and they'd let us go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Tom and his wife, Libby, clearly had gotten used to this idea of living in danger, although four weeks ago he was at a church near Albany in upstate New York telling the parishioners there, pray for us, we are living in a dangerous situation. So he clearly knew the dangers that he was confronting - Jim.
ACOSTA: And Mrs. Little steadfastly denies this allegation of proselytizing?
CHERNOFF: Yes, absolutely. I mean, they were working with a Christian organization, but they say they were there merely to provide free eye care, to provide services for the people who desperately need it. That they were not handing out bibles. That they were not in any way trying to proselytize. ACOSTA: All right. Well, Allan Chernoff with a very difficult story for us this afternoon. Allan, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
BP restarted work on the relief well earlier today. It's the next step in the process to permanently shut the broken well. Now, it's been weeks since oil has flowed into the gulf, and this week we heard from the government about how well the clean-up is going. But not everybody is sold on that so-called success.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Yes, the people in Louisiana have seen the latest video of the mostly clear blue waters in the Gulf of Mexico. And, yes, they've heard the latest government report that all but roughly 25 percent of the oil spilled into the gulf is gone. That doesn't mean people like Louis Molero are going to believe it.
ACOSTA (on camera): What do you think when you hear all that?
LOUIS MOLERO, FISHERMAN/DISASTER RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Where is it? Where did it go?
ACOSTA (voice-over): A life-long commercial fisherman, Molero now coordinates disaster response teams for St. Bernard Parish. And its response teams are made up of fishermen who are also skeptical.
JOHNNY NUNEZ, COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN/CLEAN-UP WORKER: Where it went? Who picked it up? We didn't. I mean, you know, where it went is still a laugh.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The long battle to stop the leak and contain the oil is finally close to coming to an end. And we are very pleased with that.
ACOSTA: The latest White House message from the president right down to the press secretary -
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Many of the doomsday scenarios that were talked about and repeated a lot have not and will not come to fruition because of that.
ACOSTA: Along with BP's new found confidence that its damaged well is no longer a threat sound like a political mop-up operation to St. Bernard Parish president Craig Taffaro.
ACOSTA (on camera): Is it possible that people along the Gulf Coast are just so weary and so beaten up that it's difficult to believe their own eyes?
CRAIG TAFFARO, ST. BERNARD PARISH RESIDENT: No, I don't think so, because we believe what we see and that's why we continue to have some concern.
ACOSTA (voice-over): So Taffaro's staff still goes out every day to capture images of the oil still rolling into his parish in part to convince BP its clean-up operations are sorely needed. ACOSTA (on camera): But BP says, well, guys, we don't you need anymore.
TAFFARO: That puts us - that puts in a position of having an entire part of our community in no man's land.
ACOSTA (voice-over): No man's land because commercial fishermen could end up stuck with no clean-up work and no markets for their seafood. It's no wonder Louis Molero wears the fisherman's prayer around his neck.
MOLERO: Continue to give us hope and courage to face the challenge that lies ahead, reminding us always that you are by our side. Amen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: President Obama's energy chief says BP will face a large financial penalty for the oil spill. Carol Browner also talked about the road ahead for the Gulf Coast, vowing to stay focused on the clean-up effort until the region is completely restored.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL BROWNER, WHITE HOUSE ENERGY AND CLIMATE ADVISER: No one is saying don't worry but we're saying is right now the tests show nothing of concern, we're going to continue to test.
We're not going away. We're going to continue to work with the Gulf Coast communities to make sure their economic losses are honored. To get the fisheries reopened when appropriate. Later today, the president's birthday party, he's going to be serving his guests seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. We want to make sure that these communities are restored and that they're made whole and that the environment is made whole. There's still a lot of work to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Browner says the administration will work with Congress to make sure most of the BP penalty money returns to the Gulf Coast region.
U.S. Marshals are now canvassing Yellowstone National Park for two escaped Arizona inmates. Tracy Province and John McCluskey have been on the run for eight days. Authorities believe they made their way to the Montana-Wyoming border and may be hiding in the park and they have also separated.
The two men considered armed and dangerous are suspected of killing two people in New Mexico since their escape. Police there say evidence links them to two bodies found in a burned out camper in Santa Rosa. The victims believed to be from a couple from Oklahoma. Meantime, McCluskey's mother is in jail, accused of helping her son get away.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RICK HEPPLER, FAMILY FRIEND: Blood is thicker than water, you know what I mean? You know. You're going to, you know, stick behind your son if it's your son, so if you heard he's going to jail.
JACK WASHBRUN, STEPFATHER OF ESCAPEE MCCLUSKEY: Charles McCluskey, if you're watching this, give yourself up. It's a matter of time. You'll never realize what you've done to me and your mother.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: A third escapee, Daniel Renwick was captured a week ago in Colorado.
A candlelight vigil is scheduled tonight for the eight people killed during a workplace shooting last week in Connecticut. The victims were gunned down by a fellow employee who had just been forced to resign for stealing. Funerals were held over the weekend. Tomorrow has been designated a day of remembrance for the victims and residents will observe a moment of silence.
And coming up, corruption and intimidation, it's the reality in Mexico's drug war where police are even fighting fellow officers. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Rescuers in Pakistan call it a disaster like no other, floodwaters from the northwest now threatening places as far south as the Port City of Karachi and there's no let-up in the torrential rains. Aid agencies are redoubling their efforts to get food and supplies to millions of people.
Heavy smog is choking the City of Moscow and it's growing thicker by the day from all the wildfires in the area. Check this out - all of that intense, even the wildfires have resulted in some 52 people losing their lives, a dozen more in hospitals. Flights have been delayed and hundreds of travelers have been stranded.
A wall of mud of the size of five football fields devastated an area in Northwest China, more than 100 people are dead there. Thousands of others have fled towns, now covered in mud and water.
CNN's senior international correspondent, John Vause, has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The deadly landslide was triggered by torrential rain according to local TV reports. A wall of mud and sludge, 500 meters wide and five kilometers long swept through Zhouqu County in Western China. It happened in the dark of night around midnight Saturday local time. Hundreds have since been rescued.
Houses, cars and bridges were all swept away. Hospitals were badly damaged and a hydroelectric power station was also destroyed. Emergency crews have been hampered by the sheer amount of mud. Two meters deep in some parts. Too deep to walk or drive through. And with heavy earth-moving equipment unable to reach the disaster zone, soldiers have been using shovels to search for survivors.
The government has ordered an almost 3,000 more troops, as well as tents, food and other relief supplies. The landslide comes as China battles the worst flooding in a decade. And china's premier, Wen Jiabao, arrived in Zhouqu County on Sunday to direct rescue operations.
John Vause, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: A lot closer to home, we're seeing some shocking video out of Juarez, Mexico, which shows federal police officers rioting. Opposing groups inside the force were battling over corruption allegations, all of this while they're still battling powerful drug cartels in the City of Juarez.
And our CNN producer, Nick Valencia, joins me now. And, Nick, what should we take away from this in-fighting? This looks very serious.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN PRODUCER: Well, there's a lot to take away from it, Jim. This is very significant and I know it feels like we hear a lot about the violence in Juarez, but this is a watershed moment as it were in the drug war.
What we're seeing now is federal police fighting themselves. Now, they took over security from the Mexican military on April 9th. A lot of people don't know that. The federal police are now in charge there.
Now, if they can't keep peace among themselves, many of the critics that - they're watching this video at home and seeing what's going on. You see hundreds of federal police there protesting outside of La Playa Hotel, residence that houses many federal police offices. Now, if they can't keep peace among themselves, how are they supposed to keep peace in the city?
ACOSTA: Right. We're talk - we're talking about the very stability of that police force.
VALENCIA: And this is the focal point and it has been the focal point for Mexican president, Felipe Calderon, for his drug war. There's a lot at stake here, Jim. What we're seeing now is if this violence escalates, getting closer and closer to the border, of course, U.S. residents worried about the spillover violence, a lot of people don't like talking about that. But just a few weeks ago, there was a gun battle close to the border, some bullets crossed and hit El Paso City Hall in that gun fight. So it's getting closer, Jim.
ACOSTA: Yes. And what kind of influence do the cartels have in Juarez, inside the police force?
VALENCIA: Well, that's a good point. Widely speculated that the cartels have influence from common, ordinary citizen, that they just don't - don't come out, they're too scared to come out of their house. Now we're seeing it in the ranks of the federal police, we saw it in the ranks of the municipal police, 2008, 700 municipal police officers let go there because of the corruption within those ranks.
The influence is just spreading and spreading and it feels like now it seems like it's a four-way drug war. Before it was a war between the cartels and the police and the military fighting them. Now, if that escalates and if this continues, we're going to see a four-way war, in-fighting among the federal police. It's - it's a significant development, Jim.
ACOSTA: And the psychology of it reminds me of the situation in Afghanistan, where you have the Taliban striking fear inside the local population. So they're afraid to cooperate with the local Afghani government.
And - and you almost have the same dynamic going on down in Mexico and border towns like Juarez, where the local community, they feel like if they work with the police force, they're putting their lives at risk with the cartels.
VALENCIA: And - and a lot of the - that's right. And then I'm glad you brought that up. And it is a lot for folks like us, for journalists down there. That's why it's all the more important for American journalists to keep telling the story. The media has been silenced and many people have said, many journalists that we speak to on that side of the border, many federal and state officials that we talk to say that it's just very, very tough for the media to cover this - for the media to cover this story, Jim.
ACOSTA: All right. Well, Nick Valencia, thanks for keeping us up to speed on an unbelievable video, to watch that video inside the police force, the in-fighting going on there. Pretty remarkable stuff. Thanks, Nick.
VALENCIA: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Appreciate it. Good talking to you.
Well, work can be a pressure cooker, we know that, but this week when we had yet another mass killing at a U.S. job site, it raises the question - what needs to be done to keep people safe at work? Just ahead, a security expert is here to answer our questions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: As we all know, there was a shocking crime in the American workplace this week in Connecticut, a worker forced to resign from his job opens fire. He would kill eight co-workers before turning his gun on himself.
This is the latest in a long list of mass killings at U.S. job sites. Here's just a few of the recent incidents. In February of this year, three Alabama - University of Alabama professors are gunned down during a meeting. In June of 2008, a disgruntled worker kills five people at a Kentucky plastics plant before killing himself. In January, 2006, six postal workers are killed in California. In July, 2004, four workers at a Kansas meat-packing plant are killed. There's much, much more, but you get the idea.
Timothy Dimoff is a security expert who advises companies on issues of safety and violence, and he joins us from Cleveland, Ohio. And, Timothy, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.
These are tough economic -
TIMOTHY DIMOFF, WORKPLACE VIOLENCE EXPERT: Yes.
ACOSTA: -- times. Is, you know, is the - is the tough time - are the tough times out there? Are they contributing to a more dangerous workplace? Is that what we're seeing?
DIMOFF: Yes. It's one big factor. The tougher times, economic times, people losing jobs, reading about it, the media coverage, there's a lot, a lot of negative press out there, and people are feeling squeezed today. They're concerned. And, basically, the human mind can only take so much and it's starting to crack.
ACOSTA: And according to the U.S. Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1,000 people were killed on the job between 1997 and 2007 by a co- worker, a former co-worker or an acquaintance or a relative, and that's just an amazing number.
I'm just curious, you know, are people aware of this? That this is going on.
DIMOFF: Yes, they are aware of it. And - and the sad thing about it is most of these shootings, it's not a secret. These people have talked to co-workers, family members and others about how they feel, how disgruntled they are and the fact of what they're going to do or possibly what they're thinking of doing and they even give names of people they're mad at.
And what we've had in the past, and still, we need much more ability for co-workers' families and people to come forward with that information. It's crucial and it's the missing link in a lot of these shootings taking place.
ACOSTA: And here's another number that caught our attention, Tim. $36 billion, that's how much American businesses spend each year to try to combat violence on the job. You have some recommendations for companies, right?
DIMOFF: Absolutely. I mean, the first thing and foremost, a company's got to take a stance against workplace violence, bullying, harassment, all of those negative things.
Secondly, company's got to do a better job of controlling the flow of people, the vendors and the visitors in and out of their buildings. They just have too many entrances and exits that all of these different types of people visiting or working there are utilizing, which makes it very easy for the perpetrator to come back. And that perpetrator knows that he or she can come back because of all of this ability. So control the flow.
And then the last thing that's very important, which we're just starting to see a lot of use on, is that 800 anonymous number. We've got to have a format where co-workers and family and friends can anonymously call into companies and let them know when someone isn't happy, someone's starting to talk about doing some wrong things or evil things or - or harmful things. You know - and with this anonymous 800 number we're finding out that we can discover a lot of this stuff much more earlier in the early stages and then we can circumvent it.
ACOSTA: It sounds like what you're saying, Tim, is that perhaps the lessons that were learned in many of these school shootings that happened across the country should be applied to the workplace. I mean, I think back to Virginia Tech, a story that I covered, and a lot of the red flags that happened at Virginia Tech were overlooked or missed or disregarded, and - and tragedy happened.
And it sounds like there may be red flags, just like the ones that you see at school shootings happening in the workplace.
DIMOFF: Yes. You know, my company, SACS Consulting, we have done extensive interviews across the country, you know, in the different school shootings and the business shootings, and every time we walk away from those interviews and those research projects, we find out that it was not a secret. It amazes us that not only one person knew, several people knew. But everybody tends not to want to talk about it or thinks they shouldn't. whereas, we need to change it.
You're not being a snitch. You're not telling on somebody. You're actually helping them, and we're just now starting to get a grip on that to convince co-workers' families and friends that the best thing you can do is help report that so we can get those people some help.
ACOSTA: Yes, and - and one of the things that, you know, I was thinking about, coming in today, you know, getting ready to do this segment was, well, I - you know, I swiped my little pass to get into the building. And, you know, it seems to me a lot of corporate office places are set up the same way. You have the little pass that you have to swipe to get into your building.
That's fine when it comes to stopping a terrorist or somebody who is an outsider, an intruder coming into the office place. But it really doesn't do anything when it comes to stopping a workplace shooter, right?
DIMOFF: Well, if they're still employed, it doesn't. Now, if they've recently been terminated, their card's not going to work any more and access control is a good factor for those kinds of situations.
But in the situation that you were just talking about where you have a current worker employee who's still there, once again, it goes back to this person is sending out red flag signals, talking about it, doing things at work. Many times, they're not talking to supervisors. They're - they're resisting direction. They're no longer hanging around with their co-workers. I mean besides talking about it, they have physical and emotional actions that they take, that people notice something isn't right and - and continue - people continue to ignore it. They don't report it, and it builds up and it keeps building up. And, you know, we have situations where unions confidentially are told stuff, you know, and they feel that they've got to keep it quiet. It's a union situation with their - with their co-worker and their union member.
But once it crosses that line where this person is starting to exemplify, you know, mental and emotional issues and starting to talk about it or withdraw themselves, we need to step forward.
ACOSTA: Well, very sound advice, and thanks for bringing it to us. Tim Dimmoff, a security consultant on the - on the rash of workplace shootings that we've seen in recent years, a very important subject. Tim, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.
DIMOFF: Thank you.
ACOSTA: All right. Time for our check of our - time for a check of our top stories.
The U.S. is marking another milestone in Iraq. U.S. forces handed over control of combat operations to the Iraqis yesterday. The top U.S. commander in Iraq, General Raymond Odierno, was on hand for the ceremony. Some 14,000 U.S. troops will now be redeployed or sent home.
President Obama wants U.S. troop levels in Iraq reduced to 50,000 by next month.
Rescue crews in Chile are now using heavy machinery in a last-ditch attempt to save more than 30,000 miners. They're trapped. Another cave-in blocked their efforts yesterday.
The miners have been trapped 1,300 feet underground since Thursday when the entrance to the copper mine collapsed.
Another example of the growing tension between North and South Korea today, North Korea has detained a South Korean fishing boat. It's accused of straying into the waters off the east coast of the Korean peninsula which make up North Korea's economic zone. The boat was seized as North Korea denounced South Korea's naval exercises. Pyongyang calls the exercises a provocation.
And our Karen Maginnis joins us now from the CNN Weather Center. And Karen, I have been watching you throw up triple-digit temperatures on that map all weekend long.
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
ACOSTA: When is that going to stop?
MAGINNIS: At least in the short-term, we're looking at triple digits just about everywhere across the southeast. Seventeen states with heat advisories, excessive heat warnings, heat watches out. And we're also looking at severe weather across the central United States.
Here you see North Dakota, South Dakota, here's Nebraska. Here's one big storm that has already produced a tornado that was sighted by police officers. Also, we had golf ball-sized hail and 70-mile-an- hour winds.
Now, I want to move on and show you two pieces of video. Very dramatic. We got these from two storm chasers. The first one that you're looking at, spectacular. This one comes out of Richland, North Dakota. It's right along the border with Minnesota. And there were some reports of downed trees and power lines, some damage, but no reports of any injuries.
Then our second video, this comes out of Minnesota. This is across the west central portions of the state. If you look very carefully, this is where the tornado goes over a farmhouse. There you can see the debris in the air. It is very spectacular. Yes.
The storm chasers were going "Oh, no, no, no, no, no."
ACOSTA: Are (INAUDIBLE) OK?
MAGINNIS: As far as we know, they are OK. But I did notice a huge crack in the windshield of their car -
ACOSTA: Oh, my goodness.
MAGINNIS: -- as you can imagine. I mean, if you're a storm chaser, then that's the kind of thing that's going to be happening.
Well, here's the storm that we're watching. It is a severe thunderstorm watch as well as a tornado warning out for that area. Across the southeast, a few isolated sporadic thunderstorms here and there. Nothing very dramatic, but if you're lucky enough to get one of those storms and it cools down the temperature, then you are on the lucky side.
Take a look at these temperatures. I just want to point out, Dallas, back in 1980, they saw 42 straight days where the temperature was above 100 degrees. Well, it looks like at least until you go next weekend, you can expect those temperatures hovering right around 100 degrees or so. It was quite the heat wave. That, on top of the heat index, makes it feel like 110, 115 degrees.
And Jim, across the southeast, it's the same. It doesn't look like a break any time soon, and I think you mentioned yesterday, yes, we got the whole rest of August to look forward to, too.
ACOSTA: Exactly. Not to mention September.
MAGINNIS: Exactly. September can be brutally hot as well. And hurricane season, then, you know?
ACOSTA: Yes. We are not out of -
MAGINNIS: The peak of hurricane season. ACOSTA: That's right. We are not out of the woods yet, although some woods would provide some nice cooling shelter at this point.
MAGINNIS: Yes. I think you're right.
ACOSTA: All right, Karen. Thanks so much.
MAGINNIS: All right, Jim.
ACOSTA: Oh, boy, you don't want to hear about this. A fast food hit list? The folks over at "Men's Health" magazine, they had to do this to us, picking the 10 worst for you. Where does your favorite meal rank? We're checking the list. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Nobody likes a faker, right? Well they're taking out the counterfeiters in San Francisco. The target? That city's fishermen's wharf. Federal authorities say some of the retailers have been peddling fake goods there for years and our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, a tourist Mecca with plenty of shopping. But now 11 owners and employees of eight small stores there are charged with smuggling and selling counterfeit goods. In the course of a two-year investigation, more than $100 million worth of merchandise was seized with 70 different trademarks.
JOHN MORTON, IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: Rolex watches, Coach handbags, Armani, Disney products, perfume, jewelry, scarves. You name it, they were selling it.
MESERVE: The 11 people charged are all of Chinese origin, and the goods they sold came from China. No surprise. Seventy-nine percent of the counterfeit goods seized entering the U.S. do.
The vast Chinese counterfeiting industry is fueled by consumers here and elsewhere hungry for a bargain. Some know they're buying bogus designer labels, others do not. But the ultimate price is high -- hundreds of thousands of American jobs, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
MORTON: Do you think the counterfeiters pay legitimate wages or taxes? Do they invest in factories or American jobs? No.
They're all about stealing. They're all about promoting organized crime. They're all about getting rich at America's expense.
MESERVE: This year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement expects to bring 40 percent more enforcement actions than they did two years ago. But some experts say it really isn't putting a dent in the problem, in part because of the economy. They say pinched consumers are trying to stretch every dollar and they're doing it in part by buying counterfeit goods. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: All right, our next story might put a change in your dinner plans. "Men's Health" magazine, they put out a list of their 10 worst fast food meals, listed for calories and fat content and saw a little bit of everything on the list from pasta to burgers to breakfast. So let's break this down. Karen is joining us again, once again. No weather factors in any of this.
MAGINNIS: Thank goodness.
ACOSTA: Although the heat might help you burn off some calories. Judging how some of these calorie counts are coming in. Here's the list, let's start off with Domino's Chicken Carbonara bred bowl pasta. Sounds delicious, right? Well get this, 1,480 calories, Karen.
MAGINNIS: Wow. What are you supposed to have a day -- 2,000, 2500?
ACOSTA: I think it's something like that.
MAGINNIS: Yes, you've really blown the budget there on calories.
ACOSTA: Two thousand is the average. So if you're at 1,480, you know -- a few crackers is all you get the rest of the day.
MAGINNIS: And water.
ACOSTA: I think that's how it's going to work. And get this, breakfast, you would think that breakfast would not be this big of a blow to your caloric intake. But look at this, McDonald's big breakfast, 1,370 calories. And if I'm not mistaken, because I'm a McDonald's breakfast aficionado, that is the one where you have the pancakes and the eggs, the meat, the whole kit and caboodle, 1,370 calories.
MAGINNIS: I think you could break that up into three meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner for the 1,300 calories.
ACOSTA: That's right, just get a separate box for each segment of the meal and you've got yourself a --
MAGINNIS: Yes, but anything you can pour syrup on, you know it's going to be bad.
ACOSTA: I know, that's true, and I like syrup.
MAGINNIS: I do, too.
ACOSTA: And then the other one that we wanted to show you, KFC spicy crispy chicken meal. We were talking about calories earlier. Get this, in that spicy, crispy chicken meal, 5,550 milligrams of sodium.
MAGINNIS: What would that be? What do you get in a meal, 200 milligrams of sodium? ACOSTA: I don't know. I mean, is that a whole shaker of salt? That's what I want to know. Jut might as well dump the whole thing on there. And then Burger King's triple whopper with cheese, the value meal, 1,790 calories. Unbelievable. Let's run through the rest of these. Quizno's tuna melt, 1,900 calories. So as you were saying earlier, we're there at our top there of 2,000 calories. Wendy's triple baconator, they call it the baconator. Is that like the governator? That meal, off the charts. Dairy Queen's chicken strip basket, 3,690 milligrams of sodium and Hardee's loaded biscuit with gravy, that just sounds like it's going to be a problem.
MAGINNIS: Yes, it really does it. What do they say, heart attack on a plate?
ACOSTA: Exactly, 110 grams of fat there. So you know, people who go to fast food restaurants, they know what they're getting themselves into, right? But they may not always know what these meals are going to bring in terms of calories and fat.
MAGINNIS: I think that they should add death by chocolate on there because that would be my undoing.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. And I mean, I know because I'm on the road a lot, Karen, a lot of these fast food restaurants, they're very convenient, they're quick, they're easy, they get you in, they get you out and some of them more and more and my hats off to them, are putting up those signs, inside the restaurant that detail exactly how many calories, how many milligrams of sodium.
MAGINNIS: But doesn't it ruin it for you? It does me.
ACOSTA: Yes. I've also noticed those signs are not right at the counter.
MAGINNIS: You have to go search for them.
ACOSTA: They're not next to the cash register. So word to the wise out there, "Men's Health" magazine ruining our dinner plans once again with their top ten worst list for fast food meals. So thanks to them, it's good that somebody is watching our weight, if not ourselves. Thanks for breaking it down with us, Karen, appreciate it.
MAGINNIS: It was fun.
ACOSTA: All right, spinal cord injuries didn't keep some special surfers from hitting the waves this weekend at North Carolina's Wrightsville Beach. When the tide rolled in, they paddled out with a little help from the Life Rolls On Foundation. Casey Roman with CNN affiliate WECT hits the beach as dreams came true.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY ROMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sara Jenkins is getting pumped or rather charged to hit the water. Without this device to stimulate her spine, she can't move from the neck down. But watching her, it seems hard to believe. SARA JENKINS, LIFE ROLLS ON: Either you are an amazing actress and deserve Academy Award or you had this strange, rare condition.
ROMAN: Reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a rare neurological disorder, but thanks to the organization Life Rolls On, she's crossing one wish off her bucket list, getting back to the beach, getting into the water.
JENKINS: This event shows you that you don't have to have legs to be normal.
ROMAN: Each person waiting their turn has a spinal injury, some completely paralyzed.
KEVIN MURPHY, DIRECTOR, LIFE ROLLS ON: You fall off, you're at the mercy of all the volunteers, so the courage is unbelievable. They've been through so much already, they're definitely not going to let the size of the waves hold them back.
ROMAN: Holding them up and cheering them on are 200 volunteers.
MURPHY: Just reminds you exactly of how little you are and how much respect you need to give back.
ROMAN: In the waves, it doesn't matter if you walk on two or on four. Sara hasn't had her legs since 12 and she was bedridden at 25 after a wheelchair accident.
JENKINS: By that time I was the strongest I had ever been. I was working towards my goal of walking on the beach with my crutches.
ROMAN: Two years later, she's finally heading back to the water and for a few minutes Sara moves without crutches.
JENKINS: It gives you hope.
ROMAN: For a few rides, Sara isn't suffering from anything. And for a few waves -- Sara is a surfer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: What a great story. Yesterday's event was free for surfers like Sara. You can find out more about the program online at liferollson.org.
Well, we've got a special segment coming up here. You're not going to want to miss this, hair wars, we'll take you to the front lines of the hair wars. We'll show you which wild styles are cut above the rest and for a button-down guy like myself who parts his hair on the same side, this is going to be a shocker for me as well. So stick with us, we'll be right back.
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ACOSTA: Checking some of our top story, an anti-war group rallied today for a soldier accused of leaking tens of thousands of secret military documents to the website WikiLeaks. Code Pink organizers demonstrated outside the U.S. marine base at Quantico in support of U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning. Manning is the 22-year-old intelligence analyst accused of leaking documents to WikiLeaks. He could be court-martialed. A nearby counter protesters called the leak treasonous.
NASA is planning another space walk this week to repair a problem with the International Space Station's cooling system. Despite one of the longest space walks in history yesterday, astronauts could not remove or replace a broken ammonia pump that failed more than a week ago. Right now, the three Americans and three Russian aboard the floating observatory are relying on a back-up system to keep them cool.
An update on the health of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. As one of our reports last indicated, she remains in a hospital in Los Angeles. The 93-year-old entertainer was hoping to go home today, she has been hospitalized since breaking a hip during a fall in July.
A heated competition is going on right across the street from our studios in Atlanta. It's the Bronner Brothers hair show where stylists go head to head in a variety of design contests and makers of hair products trying to sell, sell, sell. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMES BRONNER, IT DIRECTOR, BRONNER BROS: We have the world's largest show, where it's primarily African-Americans as the target market.
ANITA BOHANNON, BOVARTI COSMETICS: The Bronner Brothers show really gives you your first start. You have a large audience of people who are actually hungry and eager for new products and new services and each year, as long as you add new products, you will continue to fill your clientele.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is how you raise your prices.
DEREK JAMES, CELEBRITY STYLIST: This is where I got my start at. You know, this is where, a lot of these people that you see here watch you grow from being an at-home hair stylist to becoming a professional hair stylist in a professional industry. So I think it's very important to be here and be able to show and see the growth and learn from other hair stylists.
BIG BAD D, BBD PRODUCTS DETROIT MICHIGAN: I originally started my business by coming to the Bronner Brothers shows meeting stylists all across the country. This is the world-famous one and only MC Razor. This is one of the coolest barbers you'll ever see. Look at these designs, this cat is second to none, number one in the hair game. You sell products here and before they leave, they'll come back and reorder from you. People are here from St. Louis, New York, L.A. and that makes our benefit bigger and bigger and bigger, it grows our business.
MICHAEL WOODS, ASHTAE PRODUCTS: This show has helped us to be able to start from zero sales to become a multimillion-dollar company over the past 16 years. Most people don't know that the ethnic hair care industry is as large as it is. But you find that most other manufacturing companies are trying to tap into our industry, they know it exists and we need to take part in those revenues as well.
BIG BAD D: Business is going to still strive on black women using products.
WOODS: And the reason why is when things go bad, people want to look good. When things are good, people want to look better.
BRONNER: People will get their hair done regardless. They might not wash their car as much, they may not cut their grass as much. But any do want to come out of the house looking nice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: All right. Other top stylists are battling it out on the small screen. A new reality TV show on Oxygen features over-the-top outrageous hairdos, more over the top than the ones we just saw. The challenges are unique to stay the least. Here's a clip of two styles inspired by cocktails.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For our fifth and final battle tonight, it's Fingaz versus Malibu.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They saved the best battle for last. Yes! It's red, it's sweet, it's fizz, audience, can you guess me? I'm a strawberry daiquiri, say drink me, baby, OK?
MALIBU, TV SHOW: So I got to stand on the ring and watched Fingaz perform and I thought, oh my gosh, I'm going to lose. Aloha, everybody, I'm going to take you to the beautiful island of Hawaii, introducing the pina colada. She's going to show you the dance of the islands. Do the hula.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Yes, that was whipped cream on somebody's hair. "Hair Battle Spectacular" debuts Tuesday, and joining us now, one of the judges, Derek J. who many of you may recognize from the reality TV show, "Real Housewives of Atlanta." Derek J., thanks for joining us, we appreciate it.
DEREK J., JUDGE, HAIR BATTLE SPECTACULAR: Thanks for having me.
ACOSTA: And this just sounds like a natural, hairdressers reality television.
DEREK J.: Yes. Hairdressers are crazy. We are crazy, emotional wild people that say what's on our mind.
ACOSTA: You never hold back.
DEREK J.: No, never hold back. So to put us on TV is just a given. ACOSTA: What did you make of some of the hairstyles that we saw? I mean, people aren't actually going to go out and wear their hair like that, are they?
DEREK J.: Well, no.
ACOSTA: This sounds like it's a competition of who can top you.
DEREK J.: Right no, it is. Fantasy hair is not nothing that people would actually wear.
ACOSTA: Whipped cream on your hair? I mean, come on.
DEREK J.: It's for stylists to be able to show our creativity. It's like abstract art. People wouldn't put it in their house, but it just lets the artists show their wild side, their imagination.
ACOSTA: And how wild does it get on the show?
DEREK J.: Oh, it gets wild.
ACOSTA: Here's what I'm thinking inside my mind. I'm thinking hairdressers just going at each other with the shears, with the mirrors, with the hairspray. Is it going to get like that?
DEREK J.: It does get a little controversial.
ACOSTA: It does?
DEREK J.: Yes, it does. We do have scandals, we do have a little argument here and there. Putting ten hairstyles together is crazy.
ACOSTA: Somebody call the cops is what you're saying? Now let me ask you this, because you're talking to a guy here who probably hasn't changed his hairstyle since he was five years old. I'm just curious, what would you do for me.
DEREK J.: Well --
ACOSTA: I kind of have the salt and pepper thing going, that's not such a bad thing, right?
DEREK J.: No, that's not bad at all. Do you want to go some fantasy or do you want to go some everyday?
ACOSTA: Let's go every day. Let's start every day and then take me fantasy.
DEREK J.: For everyday look, you're good with what you have. But if you want to go fantasy, you could have some color there, some blues, some reds.
ACOSTA: Some blues, some reds?
DEREK J.: Just do a different color on the side, some different type of a mohawk, a little wild color. Spike it up, not so neat and coiffed.
ACOSTA: And luckily we don't have enough time in the segment to go down that road. But I mean, tell us about the life of being a hairdresser. You know these days, with the economy the way it is. It's got to be tough. Is part of what's going on here with the new show, is you really have to break out of the pack these days.
DEREK J.: You do. Because right now like you said with the economy, all of us are slower. I'm slow right now. So we're all slow right now. So you have to have that certain niche or something that makes you a little but different than everybody else so you can stand out because if you fall in with the rest of them, you're not going to really win in this industry right now.
ACOSTA: And tell us about the show that went on this weekend.
DEREK J: The Bronner Brothers hair show, where I'm there. I'm actually an educator there with Golden High (ph) so I'm with them. And it's just a big convention floor that everything and anything can happen. As you saw, you could see anything, say anything. No telling what might go on.
ACOSTA: And there was one hair style called the strawberry daiquiri? From the TV show?
DEREK J.: We gave them certain drinks and they had -- they took that drink and they made the hairstyle the inspiration from the drink.
ACOSTA: You wouldn't actually drink from the head of that person. The drink would not be served --
DEREK J.: Well, no. On the show, the hairstylist had to hold eight ounces of water. So, you could drink from it.
ACOSTA: It's all about shock. It's all about who can top who. Is that --
DEREK J.: That's what the show is about. They give them each episode, each episode, each competition, gets bigger and bigger. It's like some of the stuff that we ask them to do is crazy.
ACOSTA: All right, well it's all coming on the Oxygen Network, coming to a television near you. And you're saying blue and red, is that something -- something along those lines?
DEREK J.: Spike it up a little bit.
ACOSTA: Doesn't necessarily have to match the tie?
DEREK J.: No, not at all. Doesn't have to match.
ACOSTA: And if anything, maybe clash would be a good idea.
DEREK J.: That would be the best way.
ACOSTA: All right, Derek J., good advice, good talking to you. Looking forward to the TV show, appreciate it very much.
DEREK J.: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Thank you, sir. All right, they come in all shapes and sizes, lock into place and let you create until your heart's content. You won't believe what some of these guys are building. We will show you, and that is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: All right, many kids spend hours building all sorts of things with Legos. I know my kids do. But so do the older kids and many of their creations have a message. Look what our cameras found at one of the largest Lego fan festivals in the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is more like someone didn't have time to finish his stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, Lego gives you the opportunity to build whatever you're interested in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think we have enough wedges.
PAUL FREILING, LEGOS: And a lot of people will come by and ask, is this the deepwater horizon and my answer is, well, not really. I felt it was important to the memory of the people who suffered such a tragedy that there at least be some representation that they did and so, I mean, it might be a little bit graphic, but there's one of the men actually is being blown apart. You can see two more down in the oil.
TODD WEBB, FOUNDER, BRICKFAIR: If we can eliminate the dark ages, when you turn 18 and suddenly Lego is not cool and the time you turn 30 and you think, oh, I'm an adult now, I have a job, I can play with Lego again, I'm sure Lego would like to eliminate those dark ages and keep us playing all the way through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody said, Brett, isn't that fish tank your wife and I said, yes. And he said, maybe you want to come see this and I've come over and -- this used to be a salt water aquarium. It was pretty stable to start with. But if you take any Lego set and you drop it, say, three feet to the ground, doesn't matter. It just comes apart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just came out of a lecture where there was talking about the difference between an artist and a craftsman and one of the definitions my friend Arthur used was, a craftsman creates something that has no message and an artist creates something that has a message. And I guess, you know, if there's a message taken here, that's great.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Great stuff. I'm Jim Acosta. Don Lemon is up next with more of the day's headlines including a story out of Scandinavia on a death during a sauna competition. Don looks at the effect extreme heat can have on your body.
