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Egg Recall Expands; Dueling Rallies Over Islamic Center; Critics Slam Rihanna/Eminem Song; Betty White Nabs 5th Emmy Award; The High Costs of College Textbooks
Aired August 23, 2010 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A long and dramatic hostage situation played out on a street in the capital of the Philippines is over. At least seven hostages have been freed from this tourist bus in Manila. Two others were killed. It all happened about two hours ago after police shot the gunman in the head. The hostages had held by a former police inspector for 10 hours. He had been demanding his job back. We're told that he had been fired from the police force for extortion but he was claiming that he was innocent.
Back in the U.S., a health recall on eggs expands to a staggering number, some 550 million eggs are now being recalled as part of the Salmonella outbreak, and the tainted eggs have been traced back to a second producer in Iowa. The Food and Drug Administration says that some 1,000 people nationwide have gotten sick. And the problem is not just limited to the Midwest. The eggs were shipped to a total of 17 states across the country. More than a half billion eggs recalled, but here's some perspective.
It's not even one percent of all the eggs produced in the U.S.. So with numbers that big, the task of tracking down the Salmonella is daunting, and it's critical.
CNN's Casey Wian is in Galt, Iowa, just outside one of the companies there involved in the recall. Bring us up to date, Casey.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, behind me is the chicken feed mixing facility at Wright County egg. We have been watching trucks come and go all morning, delivering different ingredients that are used to make this chicken feed. It's just one of the potential sources of contamination of the Salmonella outbreak involving a company that until now has been largely unknown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN (voice-over): This modest building in Iowa farm country is at the center of one of the largest food safety scares in recent history. Wright County Egg is based here. We met the chief operating officer inside but he declined to speak with us about the company, its related businesses and their long history for fines for health and safety violations. They include animal cruelty, sexual harassment of workers, even rape, and the hiring of illegal immigrants. This undercover video obtained last year by the group, Mercy for Animals, show how the chickens were treated at the company's farm in Maine. The owner agreed to pay more than $130,000s in fines. We met several local residents who are not happy with Wright County Egg's expanding presence.
RON ZIN, WRIGHT COUNTY RESIDENT: People moved away. Because who wants to live by a mega site.
DAN BRIDGES, WRIGHT COUNTY RESIDENT: We got more migrant workers than we have our own workers. Wages are low.
WIAN: In a statement, the company said "When issues have been raised about our farms, our management team has addressed them swiftly and effectively." It also said the company is cooperating with the FDA investigation into what caused the outbreak of Salmonella and led to the recall of more than half a billion eggs. About 1,000 people have become ill this summer, including the Danielson family in Minnesota.
TODD DANIELSON, TAINTED EGG VICTIM: Everybody had diarrhea. That was kind of the first thing and then headaches and then throwing up, and then it was body aches. I couldn't even move. I mean, it was like in your joints. It hurts so bad. I mean, it was worse than any flu I've had.
WIAN: Already, lawsuits are being filed in several states by people who said they became sick eating eggs from Wright County Egg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: Now, the FDA says it is still searching for the original source of the Salmonella contamination. The agency also says that since May of this year, there has been a four-fold increase in the number of Salmonella cases nationwide. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Casey Wian. Well, keep tracking this story.
And if you have eggs in your refrigerator, we want to pass along some advice from the FDA now. If you have some of the recalled ones, don't eat them under any circumstances. Either toss them out or return them to the store. And if you get sick, and suspect it was from the recalled eggs, call your doctor. The health effects can be extremely serious. And if you're unsure whether your eggs are involved in the recall, don't eat them. Throw them out immediately.
The fight over plans to build an Islamic center near Ground Zero has gotten even bigger. Here's what it looked like over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mosque must go! The mosque must go!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Competing rallies went on just a block from each other in lower Manhattan. Police say there were about 450 anti-Islamic center protesters, and about 250 people rallying in support of the center.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RUTH MASSIE, PRO-MOSQUE ACTIVIST: It would be giving in to bigotry and intolerance to demand that it be moved and I think in the end, it makes us less safe because I think we need to show the world that we are a tolerant, open society.
SIMON DENG, FORMER SUDANESE SLAVE & HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Building a mosque is an insult to those who died. Building a mosque is a slap in the face of America and a victory to Islam. (INAUDIBLE) They say, destroy America and build a mosque! Please, New Yorkers, join me in saying no to the mosque!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now, the imam who wants to build the Islamic center near Ground Zero is also speaking out. In an interview appearing in a Bahrain newspaper, Abdul Rauf says he hopes that the center will offer an Islamic approach that allows for harmony and understanding among religions and other ideas. The imam also praises freedoms preserved under the U.S. Constitution. Rauf is in the Middle East on a State Department sponsored tour to discuss Muslim life in America.
The U.S. military could remain in Iraq beyond next year's deadline. With the last remaining U.S. combat troop exiting Iraq last week. Yesterday, General Ray Odierno told CNN's Candy Crowley that the security situation in Iraq could demand a long-term presence from the U.S..
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. RAY ODIERNO, COMMANDER, MULTI-NATIONAL CORPS-IRAQ: If the government of Iraq requests some technical assistance in fielding systems that allow them to continue to protect themselves from external threats, we could be here. I mean, we have agreements like that in Saudi Arabia. We gave agreements like that in Egypt that continues to help them, to develop their infrastructure and security architecture. If that's what we're talking about, potentially we could be there beyond 2011.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Odierno went on to add that he believes Iraqi security forces are on track to be ready for the planned withdrawal of all U.S. forces next year.
Adding to the Middle East security equation, two announcements from Iran have the west on edge this morning. On Saturday, the Islamic Republic began fueling its first nuclear power plant in Busher, a facility that the Iranians say is built solely for generating electricity. Then yesterday in Tehran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled the country's newest military weapon, an unmanned drone aircraft. Iranians are calling it "the ambassador of death" and say it can execute high-speed bombing missions.
An eye for an eye to another extreme. A judge asks a hospitals in Saudi Arabia to paralyze a man as punishment. As you can imagine, it is a request that has outraged human rights groups.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN severe weather center. The northeast getting hit with some rain that feels almost like a tropical storm or hurricane, but that's tropical storm, Danielle, behind me. Forecasts to become a hurricane. We will talk about its forecast track in just a little bit. Stay tuned. CNN NEWSROOM is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Getting to your "Morning Passport."
In Chile, rescuers say that miners trapped for nearly three weeks are still alive. The 33 miners almost a half mile underground. They sent a note yesterday to rescuers on the surface that simply said "we're fine, in the shelter, the 33 of us."
This is actual video of those trapped miners, but getting to them is going to be really difficult. Apparently, officials are cautioning it could take up to four months to rescue them.
And if you think your morning traffic commute was difficult. Imagine being stuck in traffic, are you ready for this? For nine days. China's national expressway headed into Beijing is backed up more than 62 miles right now. The gridlock actually started August 14th because of construction. Some of the drivers are playing cards to pass time. Others are getting angry for the vendors who have popped up along the road who say they are overcharging for food and drinks while everybody else is stuck.
Now when the weather is really, really unsettling, we're going to show you what heavy rains did this past weekend to shake up a couple of businesses.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Flash flooding over the weekend leaves a couple of north Georgia store fronts on the verge of going out of business. This sink hole has already swallowed much of a fast food's parking lot and a neighboring car wash. Nearly three inches of rain fell within an hour on Saturday.
Today's big weather story is tropical storm Danielle now could actually intensify into a hurricane later today or tomorrow. Either way, meteorologist Rob Marciano is tracking it for us. What do you think, Rob?
MARCIANO: Well, it's got all the ingredients you need to become a hurricane. It is looking very well organized at this point. Plenty of warm water out ahead of it and just a little bit of a few road block as far as winds that are going to work against it. But look how far away it is.
I mean, it's here in the Leeward Islands, the inroads to the Caribbean and then Florida, all the way out here. So we're talking a couple of thousand miles at least from Miami. So even if it was heading towards the U.S., we wouldn't have to worry about it for probably a week.
Right now, 60-mile-an-hour winds. So we'll get that up another 10 miles an hour and it will get up to - or 15 miles an hour and it will get to hurricane strength. So probably will happen later on today. Here's the forecast from the National Hurricane Center. Gets to category 1 strength and then eventually to category 2. But notice, it brings in more towards Bermuda in the south central Atlantic than it does the U.S..
Of course, beyond day four and five, we'll have to watch it more carefully for maybe impacts on New England. But right now, all of the smart money is on it that it will stay out to sea. All right. Speaking of New England, heavy rain and even some winds that are banging around folks up there, and also some rain across parts of Florida, West Coast, especially.
Check out some of these numbers. I know you experienced this up there the last couple of days, Kyra. Ridgewood, New Jersey, six inches of rainfall, Syracuse got four and a fifth. Poughkeepsie got over three inches. You might get out of there today or maybe tomorrow and things will begin to quiet down.
PHILLIPS: Oh, boy. I'm out of clothes, Rob.
MARCIANO: Well, then please come home.
PHILLIPS: OK.
All right. Let's check our top stories.
At least two hostages and a gunman are dead in the Philippines after a 10-hour hijacking of a bus. A total of 25 people had been on the tourist bus when the standoff began. That gunman was a former police officer.
The egg recall now up to a half billion eggs in 17 states. The FDA says about 1,000 people have gotten sick from the Salmonella outbreak and the feds are linking it to two Iowa egg producers.
People affected by the gulf oil disaster have a new place to go for claims. The Gulf Coast claims facility is taking over for BP. People who have previously filed a claim with BP will need to file a new claim form, but they won't have to resubmit all the documentation.
So, just imagine, a judge sentencing you to a severed spinal cord. That's justice in Saudi Arabia. A man who allegedly stabbed another man and paralyzed him could end up paralyzed himself. Under Islamic Sharia law, the victim has the right to ask for his attacker to suffer the same fate. That's when we bring in CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom. He's in Abu Dhabi where - tell us more about this case.
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, in Saudi Arabia, it's being reported that a judge in the northwestern province of Tabook has sent out letters to several hospitals in Saudi Arabia asking of the hospitals can perform an operation in which they would sever the spine of a man who was sentenced because he had attacked allegedly another man in the back two years ago and paralyzed the other man.
Now, in Saudi Arabia, it's a very puritanical version of Islam called wahhabism that's practiced, and over there, the rule of an eye for an eye still applies. The rights activists that I have spoken with in the country have expressed outrage and in some cases are disgusted. They think that, you know, a judge has never gone this far even in Saudi Arabia, but in Saudi Arabia, judges are given wide discretion and latitude to interpret Islam the way they see fit and dole out the kind of punishment they see appropriate.
What's interesting here is you're seeing more and more cases emerge in the past few years that have been controversial, that have cause so much controversy and condemnation from the international community and rights groups, whether it's the case of a 19-year-old girl who was raped and given a sentence that was harsher than some of her attackers. She was eventually pardoned.
Or the case of a man who was sentenced to die because he was supposedly a sorcerer. The fact that these cases are being reported is showing that there's a societal struggle that's going on in Saudi Arabia between the progressives and the moderates and between the hard-liners. The progressives and the moderates over there want to make sure that this kind of what they see as Draconian justice is no longer practiced. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So do we know if any of the hospitals sent letters by the judge - has there been any response to this request?
JAMJOOM: Well, Kyra, the Saudi media and some of the rights groups are reporting that at least one hospital has responded by saying that the procedure could be performed but that another facility would need to be used, a facility that could handle that kind of very delicate surgery. But one of the most prominent hospitals in Saudi Arabia, King Faisal specialist hospital in Riyadh, they have refused this request and they've said they won't perform this under humanitarian grounds and they say that on medical grounds also they cannot cause this kind of an injury to a human being. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Right. Mohammed Jamjoom, thanks so much.
Well, some people think that Rihanna's big hit with Eminem makes domestic violence look normal. The music might sound good but if you listen closely to the lyrics, you'll understand why some critics are pretty upset.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The new Eminem music video "Love the Way you Lie" featuring Rihanna has gotten more than 56 million page views on YouTube, maybe you or your kids have seen it. The video tells the story of a domestic violence situation, but critics say it sends the wrong message.
Remember, Rihanna has been a victim of abuse. Our CNN's Carol Costello is taking a look at this controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a video sensation. Some 30 million YouTube hits in just over a week. It stars Rihanna, whose battered face shocked the public just a year ago, and Eminem, whose known for his turbulent relationship with his ex- wife. Together, along with two beautiful popular actors they tell the story of a violent relationship.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
COSTELLO: The video ends with fire and then cuddling. Rihanna wouldn't speak to CNN but she told "Access Hollywood."
RIHANNA, SINGER: It was really a deep song, and the lyrics were so deep, so beautiful and intense. It's something that I understood, something that I connected with, which made me think it was a hit and I wanted to be a part of a hit, so of course, I couldn't say no to Eminem.
COSTELLO: But some domestic violence experts say whatever Rihanna's intentions, she dangerously missed the mark.
AYONNA JOHNSON, WOMEN'S RESOURCE CTR. TO END DOM. VIOLENCE: It illustrates a sense of normalcy to a very abnormal dysfunction. It also tried to portray domestic violence is a reciprocal relationship. You're loving me, you're hating me, you're abusing me as well as I'm abusing you.
COSTELLO: Johnson says that's blaming the victim, it's become a common theme. Take Mel Gibson, he denies abusing his ex-girlfriend despite his alleged enraged rants.
JOHNSON: I've heard numerous feedback about Mel Gibson's former partner, Oksana, and the negative person that she is. And she's a gold digger and she's this as if we're still not quite ready as a society to place responsibility and accountability where it lies, which is on the abuser.
COSTELLO: And she says nothing illustrates that better than the case against Charlie Sheen. This is a 911 call from his wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My husband had me with a knife, and I fear for my life and he threatened me.
COSTELLO: Sheen did plead guilty to misdemeanor assault. His punishment? Rehab, counseling and community service, and he'll have ample time to star on his hit TV show.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
COSTELLO: Maybe the best thing about all of this is that we're talking about domestic violence, although advocates say not seriously enough.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: All right. As you say, advocates saying not talking about it enough. All right. We all know Eminem is like the king of controversy. He knows exactly what he is doing here.
COSTELLO: After all, he did write a song about his wife called "Killing Kim."
PHILLIPS: Yes, I remember, he was involved in domestic abuse and all of that. So, all right. It's getting attention. People are talking about it. But if they really wanted to help, is there a better way they could have gotten this message out?
COSTELLO: Well, this is what domestic counselors have told me, the better way was to make it clear that domestic abuse is wrong, zero tolerance. Don't make it appear that you know, these two people are fighting, and it's reciprocal and then you know, they have this great sex and they are cuddling at the end. I mean, right after Eminem says, "I'm going to tie to you the bed and burn the house down," they show a picture of this couple lying on a bed cuddling.
It just sends a conflicting message that domestic violence, counselors say, people don't need to hear conflicting messages in this case. They need to hear domestic violence is wrong.
PHILLIPS: OK. And so how do you - artists will say it's artsy, people will figure it out. They'll see it. They'll get it. I don't think everybody is necessarily that smart. I think kids will watch this video because they dig Rihanna, teenage girls, and they're going to see this violence and they're not going to be able to put that all together.
COSTELLO: A 13-year-old girl watching this video, hears the lyric, "I love the way it hurts," and although, you know, Rihanna says she snarls and does the lip curls and that kind of like says to the audience that she really doesn't like the way it hurts but some counselors say that a 13-year-old girl will not get that subtle cue from Rihanna.
PHILLIPS: Especially nowadays when our kids are so advance and it doesn't send out -
COSTELLO: And they see violence everywhere on television and in our popular culture and they see it in this instance and in real life situations. This could be a real life situation. You know, there's a lot of domestic abuse among teenagers these days. Do they really need to see that?
And also Megan Fox, very sexy, popular actress and the guy from "Lost," he plays the abusive boyfriend in those scenes. You know, they see those two beautiful people. You never see signs of abuse really. They look beautiful throughout the video, and counselors say this is also sending the wrong message. I mean, the guy is burning the house down and Megan Fox looks great.
PHILLIPS: A lot of people, a lot of folks were saying, involved in domestic violence community, advocates saying, "OK, why didn't they take all the proceeds from this song and all those attention and put it towards domestic violence organizations? Megan Fox did that after the criticism, right? But Eminem, Rihanna, still nothing?
COSTELLO: Listen, the cynic in me, you know, says they wanted a hit song and that's why they made this video, and the song is really catchy and great, right? But the other side of me said they really wanted to reach out and help people, and counselors say in a way they really did do that because now you can sit down and you can talk about the video and what it really depicts, and parents should watch it with their young teenagers and say, you know, "let's watch this together. Tell me what the message that it's sending you? And let's discuss what a healthy relationship is. And why this might not be a healthy relationship and something you don't want to really experience this in your life."
PHILLIPS: And it would be interesting too to hear from Eminem why he was an abuser and hear more from Rihanna about, you know, being on the other side of that in a deeper discussion than a sexy video that's going to make a lot of money.
Carol.
COSTELLO: Maybe we will some day.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Good conversation. Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Well, teenagers are all thumbs these days. We know that. Heck, so many of us are all thumbs when it comes to our devices. But this one comes to tapping out those text messages. We're going to hear why some doctors think that texting can be an addiction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: These days teenagers communicate without saying a word. Instead, they rely on their thumbs and cell phones to just tap out thousands of messages sometimes in a single day. Clearly texting has become their lifeline. But, is it also their addiction?
CNN's Deb Feyerick takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: On your mark, get set, go.
(voice-over): How fast can your average 15-year-old text a single line? Let's just say faster than someone not in high school.
(LAUGHTER)
(on camera): Mine's not even English. (voice-over): For 10th grader Sara Matzkin on the right, Sarah Marshall in the middle, and April Polubiec, texting may be as important as talking.
(on camera): How many text do you send and receive every day?
SARA MATZKIN, TEXTING TEEN: Probably around 200.
SARAH MARSHALL, TEXTING TEEN: Definitely a lot. A couple of hundred.
APRIL POLUBIEC, TEXTING TEEN: It varies.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Varies studies show to the tune of well over 3,000 texts a month for the average teenager. The question now: are teens texting too much?
MARSHALL: It's right by my bed when I go to sleep and it's right by my bed when I wake up. It's like the first thing I go to.
FEYERICK: Eighty percent of all kids own a cell phone and the rate of texting has skyrocketed 600 percent in three years.
(on camera): But why is it so important for you to know when somebody's trying to reach you?
POLUBIEC: You feel like you're missing something. If someone like text me and I missed it, I feel like missed out on the moment like --
FEYERICK: Do you sometimes feel your mood changing depending on how often you're receiving the texts or the speed?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
FEYERICK: Like what? Give me -- give me some examples.
MATZKIN: Well, I mean, like if someone responds right away, like, you're like, yes, like, they responded. But if they respond like two to three hours later, you're like, what's going on?
FEYERICK (voice-over): Sound addictive? Well, could be. Doctors say texting and the instant gratification of getting a text back floods the brain's pleasure center with the mood-enhancing dopamine.
DR. MICHAEL SEYFFERT, CHILD NEUROLOGIST: Neuro imaging studies have shown that those kids who are texting have that area of the brain light up the same as an addict using heroin, and they will actually describe, when I don't have it, I feel bad, I feel anxious or I feel sad.
FEYERICK (on camera): So, it's like the new nicotine?
SEYFFERT: That's a good description. Yes. And for many, it may well be. FEYERICK (voice-over): Brain doctor Michael Seyffert treats teens with sleeping disorders at this New Jersey sleep clinic, and has discovered that one out of five of them are interrupting their sleep to text, triggering problems.
SEYFFERT: With a lack of sleep, they are having a problem performing. They're going from "A" or honor roll students to, you know, barely passing.
FEYERICK: That's the worst case.
These teens, on the other hand, get good grades and take part in afterschool activities, though texting does sometimes get them in trouble.
FEYERICK (on camera): When was the last time you had your phones taken away?
MATZKIN, MARSHALL, POLUBIEC: Yesterday.
MARSHALL: Today.
FEYERICK: Today. OK. So basically within the last 24 hours, you've each had your phone taken away from you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Their school like many struggling to contain a growing distraction for students.
TRACEY BAILEY, ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN EDUCATORS: Most administrators will tell you that if it's not their single greatest problem in terms of discipline and school management, it's at least in the top three.
FEYERICK: Despite the potential downsides, these parents say texting has become a necessary evil.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't answer the phone. It's the only way --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They will answer a text.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't do e-mail at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They won't e-mail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Forget about e-mail. They won. The only way to get a hold of them is to text, so I had to actually to get text messaging in order to communicate with my kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes they'll only communicate that way.
FEYERICK: And while the behavior can be addictive, teens like Sara Marshall say they're confident they can quit cold turkey.
MARSHALL: Maybe I'd have some, like, withdrawal symptoms, like I get anxious and like wonder like what's going on, but once I realize that nothing bad is happening, it's fine without my phone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: OK. Reality check, because you're a mom, and I pointed this question to you.
Let's talk about breakdown of manners versus kids that really could be ostracized and left out of "the know" or the social scene. First of all, breakdown of manners. These devices have totally contributed to that. Nothing drives me more crazy than as soon as there's a lull in the conversation, or maybe at dinner there's a quiet moment, these kids are pulling out devices. It's just so rude.
FEYERICK: That's exactly right. There's almost no intellectual downtime because when they stop the conversation, out come the devices. And they're prioritizing in a very, very different way.
They're basically saying that what I'm getting on my cell phone is much more important than the conversation that I'm having with you, or the paper I'm writing or anything else. So there's this distance in communication, basically, where they don't see it as bad manners. But for the generation that grew up without that, that believes that intimacy happens between two people sitting across from each other, as oppose to two people virtually texting, it's very different. So that's an issue.
Also, a friend of mine confiscated her son's cell phone for three months. He was furious because it wasn't just about discipline, it wasn't about punishment. She basically cut off his entire social life for three months and that became an additional problem.
PHILLIPS: But how does that cut off your social life for three months? Can't you pick up the phone the old way or stop by their house or connect after school?
Explain this to me.
FEYERICK: They don't do that anymore.
We used to go next door, we'd knock on the door, are you home? We'd call, pick up the phone. But these kids are on the move. They've got sports, they've got afterschool activities, they've got a whole different range of things. So for them it becomes their lifeline.
It becomes how they communicate. Meet up after school. Meet here. Go there. Party this weekend. Sporting event. It's their way of connecting with the world around them in a way that we never had the luxury because we were forced to do it manually.
You know I sometimes think -- you read those old novels where they used to take a carriage to the beach and it took two weeks to get there and then the summer for eight months.
PHILLIPS: They'd roll up the little messages and then put them in a -- FEYERICK: That's exactly right. It's all about time and how you you're compressing time.
We used to get busted in class for writing little notes and then folding them up like a football, right, and tossing them. Remember that? So what's worse? Writing a note during class or constantly texting? I don't know.
FEYERICK: Well, they're writing hundreds of them, technically. We wrote one or two. They're writing thousands.
Plus when the cell phone goes off in the middle of class, it interrupts the whole class. Teachers have to stop, they have to address it, they have to wait to resume their lessen. So, that's the problem. Plus, they're spending so much time policing these cell phones that it takes away from that constructive atmosphere.
PHILLIPS: What a waste of time and energy. So here's what you do, like in grade school, when they would make us read the letter. Do you remember that? Oh, what are you writing, Kyra? Why don't you read that to the class? Can you imagine having to read all of your text messages to the class? I'm telling you, that's the new thing to do.
FEYERICK: That definitely would be.
PHILLIPS: Privacy and - oh, yes.
FEYERICK: Yes, exactly.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Deb.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Life was so easy back then. Thanks, Deb.
Well, time to go cross country. Some other news around the U.S. You better buckle up for this first stop because it's a riot that actually broke out at a music festival in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Police say about 400 troublemakers got rowdy, threw beer bottles, other objects. No officers were injured but lots of vendors and shops suffered losses. And get this - it was after an Earth, Wind and Fire concert. What's wrong - I don't get it.
In Seattle, Washington, a memorial is being built for the Japanese-Americans who were uprooted during World War II and sent to internment camps. Each brick will bear the name of someone who was locked up simply because of their heritage. About 100,000 Japanese- Americans were interned during the war years.
And a new beginning in Enterprise, Alabama. Classes resume today, three and a half years after a deadly tornado devastated this town. It destroyed Enterprise High School and killed eight students. Today the new school is open and classes will no longer be held in portable classrooms.
Well, she's more than daddy's little girl.
BVC
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's taking a picture of you. Say cheese.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been here over 20 years. That's the first time I ever had a three-year-old walk up to a fire station.
EVC
PHILLIPS: You're going to find out why they're calling her a life saver.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: College was nothing like this when many of us were growing up. More than 70 students at Indiana State University are rooming at the Candlewood Suites Hotel. ISU has record enrollment this year and ran out of room at the dorm. So, the hotel and the students say they love it.
BVC
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's exciting for us, not only to build that partnership with ISU, but also it helps the whole downtown area with restaurants, hotels. It's just a win-win for everyone.
EVC
PHILLIPS: How about this? Students also get to use their college meal plan card at the hotel restaurant.
If you're packing up for college, bring lots of extra cash. No, not for the beer. For the books.
Stephanie Elam is in the CNNMoney.com NEWSROOM.
Stephanie, you never used any of your book money for beer, right?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I got to college when I was 17 years old, so definitely not, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: At least if the family is watching, you're not going to admit to that.
ELAM: I did go to college way across the country, though. I will say that.
If you take a look at how expensive college is, for a lot of people, beer, notwithstanding. If you just take a look at all of the other things you have to spend on, books are really a big expense. Last year, students at four-year colleges spent on average more than $1,000 on books. That's up more than 30 percent from five years ago.
Let's talk about ways to save money on those textbooks. First, consider renting. Some college bookstores offer that option. You can also look to do it online. Check out these web sites that we're showing you right now. And renting - that can save you as much as 45 percent off the full price of some textbooks. If you're a happy highlighter type of person, renting probably not an option for you because remember, you've got to give the book back.
Now, another option, you could go for used books. A lot of us did that when we were in school. You can still do it now. There are several web sites that you can go to, to comparison shop and old standbys like half.com, or even amazon.com.
We're also hearing more about and there are eTextbooks. These are digital versions you can buy for your computer or iPad at about half the cost of a textbook. But there are limits to how many pages you could print. So if you'd like a hard copy, Kyra, this one is probably not the best option for you, either.
PHILLIPS: Well, what about the ultimate discount, free? I mean, can you get books at no charge? I remember in college you could get them used. There was a whole section of used books and you always liked to get it because it was cheaper and people had already highlighted and made notes in the books, so it made it kind of like Cliff Notes.
ELAM: Right. This is really important. Read this highlighted part here, like a little start next to it. You're right, definitely you can still find some free other than maybe a student who had the class the semester before you.
Student advocates tell us more professors are starting to assign what are called, "open source textbooks," and you can usually download a copy for free or get a printed version for 20 to 40 bucks. Compare that to some of those textbooks that are like $200 each.
Right now, open source is mostly concentrated in math, business and economics. But this is the kind of thing that spreads by word of mouth. So, if you're in school, you're heading back to college, you might want to mention open source to your professor, see if you get it to spark a fire there.
Whatever you do, keep in mind that thanks to the new laws, colleges now have to tell students which books are required during the course during registration, so therefore you've got more time than ever to shop around and find the best deal before classes start, Kyra, so you can be good to go.
One thing I did learn though in college, I'll pass on, Kyra, maybe you found the same thing. There are certain textbooks, I thought I have to keep this one. After I graduate, I'm going to need it. And I never looked at them again. So, sell them.
PHILLIPS: That's so funny that you said that because I kept all of my journalism books thinking, OK, just for memory's sake. I might want to recall something. I know, I haven't touched them either. They're all archaic.
ELAM: How do I write a lead? Let me look it up in my book. (CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: See you, Stef (ph).
All right. Let's check some other stop stories right now. That egg recall, it's up to a half billion eggs in 17 states. The FDA says about 1,000 people have gotten sick from the salmonella outbreak. The feds are linking that outbreak to two Iowa egg producers.
At least two hostages and a gunman are dead in the Philippines after a 10-hour hijacking of a bus. A total of 25 people had been on the tourist bus when that standoff began. The gunman was a former police officer.
In Pakistan's flood damaged areas, a scramble for aid. The United Nations says there are 3.5 million young people at risk now of water-related diseases.
A nail salon does something special for its overweight customers. It charges them an extra five bucks for wear and tear on the chair. One customer says we're not supposed to do this in America. We're getting your feedback next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Here's a story where I want your input. It's about the high cost of obesity. We've seen airlines kick big passengers off the plane or make them buy two tickets instead of one. Now I want you to take a look at this nail salon in Atlanta. A woman goes in for a manicure/pedicure and gets stuck with a surcharge, a surcharge for being obese.
Listen to both sides of this story from WSB Eric Phillips, and then let's talk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHELLE FONVILLE, FORMER CUSTOMER: I was humiliated. I almost cried. I turned my face to just, you know, because tears were forming in my eye.
ERIC PHILLIPS, WSB REPORTER (voice-over): Michelle Fonville says her experience at Natural Nails in Dekalb County on Monday, turned from pleasant to painful in a matter of moments. She says things went downhill after she'd gotten her manicure, pedicure and eyebrow arch, and the manager gave her the bill. She realized she'd been overcharged by $5.
FONVILLE: I said, I've been overcharged. I said, she may have made an error. She broke it down. Then she told me she charged me $5 more because I was overweight. I said ma'am you can't charge me $5. I said, that's discrimination. You can't discriminate against me because of my weight.
KIM TRAN, SALON MANAGER: That's not discrimination. That's not about discrimination. PHILLIPS: The manager tells me it's about the salon chairs that cannot hold more than 200 pounds or it could lead to costly repairs.
TRAN: $2500. You think that that's fair? When we charge $24 and we have to pay for $2,500. Is that fair? No.
PHILLIPS: The manager did refund Fonville the $5 overcharge and told her to take her business elsewhere.
TRAN: I said, I'm sorry. Next time I cannot take you.
FONVILLE: It was a matter of fact, you know, attitude. I just couldn't believe another human being was talking to another human in that manner. The word has to get out there that these people are discriminating against us because of our weight. I mean, come on, we're in America. You can't do that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We wanted your feedback on this story and a lot of you are responding on my blog.
Jean says I'm so disgusted with obese people being discriminated. No other group can be discriminated against like the obese.
Eric says, 99 percent of overweight people are overweight by choice. I'm sorry but being unhealthy does not give you the same protection under the law as being paralyzed or mentally disabled. I have no sympathy for that woman.
Annette says, the salon owner has a right to protect her equipment but should have given notice beforehand about overweight customers. They need to bone up on customer relations.
Remember, we always want to hear from you. Just log onto CNN.com/kyra and share your comments with me. I really appreciate it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, it's time for Home and Away, our daily tribute to men and women in uniform who made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq or Afghanistan. And today, we're lifting up Lance Corporal Jourdan Lynn (ph) Grez, from Virginia. He was one of four Marines killed when their amphibious assault vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Iraq, in May of 2005.
Jordan's dad Armand, joins us on the phone from Richmond to talk about his son.
From what I understand, Jordan made a life change at the age of 15. Something clicked in his heart that he wanted to give back.
Tell us about that, dad.
ARMAND GREZ, FATHER OF LANCE CORPORAL JOURDAN GREZ: Well that's true. When he was 15, he was in an automobile accident with three other fellows, and one of his good friends was killed. The driver of the car was his best friend and was severely injured and Jourdan himself had cracked his hip, and woke up with 100 stitches in his face.
And for all of the work that these people did, these emergency medical technicians and doctors and the hospital did, he appreciated it and decided that he wanted to give back. So he joined up and got licensed as a emergency medical technician around age 16 and he would spend his weekends working for a local EMT unit, going out on calls and helping people. That's when -
PHILLIPS: That's --
GREZ: I'm sorry.
PHILLIPS: No, no go ahead.
GREZ: I was going to say, when he was overseas and the Marines lacked the corps man, Jourdan was always the guy that raised his hand and let them know he was capable of doing some of those things.
PHILLIPS: So did he want to join the Marine Corps because it was that same spirit of just wanting to be there to save a comrade?
GREZ: Not necessarily. I think he joined because he had a son that was on the way, and he adored his son, and he joined up and wanted to make sure he had financial stability for him. But he was always the guy that was there to help. Jordan was known as such a caring guy.
PHILLIPS: What's your grandson's name, Armand?
GREZ: It's Colin. C-O-L-I-N. He's (INAUDIBLE).
PHILLIPS: Colin. We're looking at him now. He's absolutely adorable.
How was your son as a dad?
GREZ: He was great. He was very attentive to his son. Jourdan was a student at James Madison University and he had changed his major a couple of times, so it was taken longer to get through what he was going to do. And then when his unit got activated and were scheduled to go overseas in February, he dropped out of school so he left that last semester so he could spend as much time as he could with his son. (INAUDIBLE).
PHILLIPS: Armand, I know - and he's adorable when you look at his pictures, he looks just like his father.
Before we let you go, I always wonder how parents keep in touch with their son or their daughter that they've lost in war. A lot of it's through meditation, prayer, talking out loud.
You actually listen to your son's cell phone messages from time to time, right?
GREZ: Yes. I kept a couple of them on my cell phone. Every once in a while, I go back. The message is insignificant but in the end, when he says, I love you, dad, I like hearing that.
PHILLIPS: I don't blame you, Armand.
Armand Grez, thanks so much for calling in and sharing Jourdan's life with us. And I'm sure just looking at his little boy, he will carry on your son's legacy.
Armand, thanks so much.
GREZ: Thank you for remembering these guys.
PHILLIPS: It's our honor.
And we'd like to hear from you. Be like Jourdan's dad and join our tribute. Just go to CNN.com/homeandaway. Type in your service member's name in the upper right hand search field. Pull up the profile, send us your thoughts and your pictures and we're going to keep the memory of your hero ally, we promise.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Betty White, young at heart and ageless in her appeal. She takes cougar to a whole another level, wouldn't you say? She seemed an intriguing choice to host "Saturday Night Live." Who knew she'd hit it out of the park? At 88 years old, Betty White owned the stage that night. And her much younger co-stars said that she even out partied them in the wee hours after the show.
Well today Betty White is supporting a brand new Emmy Award for that gig. It's her fifth Emmy. And I know our Tony Harris thinks she is one sexy devil.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And I love the 'fro.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: Come on.
Kyra, you have a great day in New York City.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Tony. Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow.
HARRIS: See you back this evening (ph).
PHILLIPS: OK.
