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9/11 Families Rally for Islamic Center; Stuck a Half-Mile Underground; Sedated to Death in New Orleans; Taking a Stand Against Bullying; What's Hot; IPhone App Alerts Man To Burglary
Aired August 25, 2010 - 11:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone, I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour in the CNN NEWSROOM where anything can happen. Here are some of the people behind today's top stories.
Thirty-three miners more than 2,000 feet under the ground -- they could be stuck there for months. What is being done to rescue them and to guard their physical and mental health? We are live from the mine site.
Thieves thwarted -- got burglars breaking into your home? There is an app for that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifteen hundred miles away, live footage to our phones of guys breaking in our house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You are online right now, and we are too. Josh Levs is following what's hot -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, the 50 best Web sites of 2010. The list from our partners at time.com is out. You've got music, sports, social media, shopping. Unfortunately, CNN.com/Tony did not make the list this year.
HARRIS: All right, Josh, thank you. Let's get started with our lead story.
Happening this hour, some 9/11 families rallies in support of plans to build an Islamic center with a mosque near Ground Zero. Now critics say it is an insult to victims of the terrorist attacks, but rally organizers say it is about religious freedom.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick joining us from the site of the rally. And, Deb, if you would, set that scene for us.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, let me tell you just how important this is and how big of a topic this is here in New York and really across the nation. You can -- look at all these cameras behind me. I mean, this is the amount of attention that this issue is dominating. This is not just about building a mosque, but this is about the rights of American Muslims here in the United States. That's really what many of the people here believe that this has come down to. What are their rights, and what are the laws under the Constitution that protect them as American citizens?
I'm here with Talat Hamdani. She lost her son in the 9/11 attack.
When you look at the issue, why do you believe it has become so divisive?
TALAT HAMDANI, LOST SON ON 9/11: Well, it has become divisive, because we, the Muslim-Americans, are fighting for our rights under the Constitution. This issue is not about the location being in proximity to the hallowed ground and about sensitivity. It is about our rights as Americans.
All those people that died that day, 2,700, they were attacked, they were murdered for being Americans and cherishing the American values of liberty, democracy and freedom of faith, to pursue a faith of your own choice. So we -- that's what this issue is all about. We need to honor those people that were murdered that day.
Now, by living up to those American core values -- and secondly, we were not attacked by Islam. We were attacked by an organization, ideological organization, al Qaeda. And we are not at war with Islam. On the contrary, we need their support, their foreign policy support. We need their support. We are out there fighting.
When it comes for the Muslim-Americans to pay our dues as citizens, we pay. We give our lives. We gave our lives at the twin towers, we gave our lives on the line and the front. But when it comes to demanding our rights, we have been denied.
So it's not about a location. It's about our rights as Americans.
FEYERICK: You were at a dinner last night that was hosted by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and said that it's an issue that, really, New Yorkers need to stand firm on, that it's not just about moving the mosque, it's about building the mosque where it is, because otherwise, when does it stop? How many blocks does it become a mosque-free zone? How far is far enough?
What do you believe? Do you believe that moving the mosque perhaps to an area that others might feel is less provocative would answer the critics?
HAMDANI: No, I just do not agree to move the mosque or the Islamic cultural center at all, because, number one, there are other churches and synagogues on the footprints, in the proximity. And there are other mosques. There's mosques, also, like, five or 10 blocks away.
So the issue is not will the about the location. The issue is about denying our rights to pursue a faith of our choice. And the protesters are denying, trying to make us second-class citizens, which is unacceptable.
FEYERICK: Do you believe that if the voices that make you feel as if you're a second-class citizen, they should be courting you on some levels, saying we need moderate Muslims, we need people who practice a moderate, mainstream form of Islam, because otherwise the terrorists win? Should the dynamic be changing?
HAMDANI: I think it is in the process of transitioning and changing since there's a loud outcry from the supporters now. And it's -- four or five days ago, it was about them only, the protesters, and the sensitivity.
But now we are talking about, what about our sensitivities, you know? We also died. We paid the price also, and we did not attack. We were also, you know, attacked. And to ostracize us and to punish us for the actions of a foreign nation, of a foreign terrorist group, is wrong.
FEYERICK: OK. Talat Hamdani, thank you very much. You lost your son on 9/11, you are here on his behalf, speaking for more than 70 groups that are going to be represented at this press conference.
HAMDANI: Thank you.
FEYERICK: Again, a big issue here in New York City that many people are paying attention to. Again, where do you build a mosque? How close does it have to be or not have to be?
Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely.
All right. Deb Feyerick for us.
Deb, appreciate it. Thank you.
Now the 33 miners trapped almost a half-mile underground. Rescuers in Chile have not told the men it may be months before they see sunshine again. So far, the miners remain upbeat, asking for beer, peaches and toothbrushes.
CNN's Karl Penhaul is on the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the bowels of the earth, this message from a miner to his wife to say, against all the odds, he was still alive.
"Dear Lila, I'm OK, thanks to God. I hope to get out soon. Be patient. Have faith. God is great. We will make it out," he writes.
"Give a lot of kisses to my daughters and my grandchildren. I love them. Stay calm. And to you, with all my love, I love you so much, and we will be happy forever with our family."
"We will see one another again soon. Good-bye, my darling. A kiss -- Mario."
At 63, Mario Gomez is the most experienced of the 33 miners trapped in northern Chile. His note was almost shredded as it came to the surface, taped to the probe rescuers were using to try and locate the missing men. Authorities had feared the miners were surely dead.
(on camera): Up on this barren hillside, relatives have planted a flag for each of the miners trapped underground, 32 Chilean flags, one Libyan flag. And as long as it takes, the Chilean government is vowing to bring each one of them home alive.
As day fades, families stoke the fires in the camp where they've been living since the cave-in and wave good-bye to some of the workers that have helped in the rescue effort. It may still take time, but they now seem sure they will get their happy ending.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: What a scene.
CNN's Karl Penhaul live now from the San Jose mine in northern Chile.
And Karl, tell us where rescue efforts stand right now, if you would, please.
PENHAUL: There's a couple of efforts going on here.
First of all, to drill yet another borehole so the rescue workers have three bore holes to deliver oxygen and food, and also some items of clothing, down to the miners 2,300 feet below the ground. Those boreholes as well will also serve to send a wire down so that they can establish permanent communication, possibly by video, but certainly by microphone, as well.
And then, of course, the main relief effort. Now what they're doing is building a reinforced concrete platform on one of the hillsides. And then in the next two or three days, a larger drill is expected to drill down, a hole wide enough for a man's shoulders, and then to bring those miners back to the surface.
And that's the part that could take a long time, because that drill isn't expected to be working at any more than 60 feet a day. And, of course, it's got to go 2,300 feet down.
That, in some cases, may not be a totally bad thing in that, today, talking to one of the rescue experts, he said that miners, by their normal constitution -- they're some big, bulky guys -- and he says a couple of them really do have quite large beer bellies, I guess you would describe them. You know, quite large bellies on them.
And so, over the next few days, part of the medical rationing of the food that they'll be getting is to ensure that they're all slim enough to come up through that 66-centimeter -- that -- you know, like I say, about the width of a man's shoulders hole. They don't want any surprises at the last minute that any of these guys are still a little bit too large to come up through there -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. What is being done, Karl, to keep the miners' spirits up? Is it true that they have not been told how long it might take to get them out?
Oh, did we lose Karl? Can he not hear us?
OK. Karl Penhaul for us.
Let's move on to CNN's Chad Myers. And Chad has been looking at actual logistics here of getting the miners to the surface.
And Chad, they're essentially in this really small space which we will illustrate in just a few minutes. And it's what, 2,300 feet below the ground?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And you know what? Do you remember -- I vividly remember these coal miners being pulled up from Somerset County, Pennsylvania, years ago in these -- literally like a bullet. It was just enough to get them in and they pulled them out.
Well, a coal mine that we think of, rescue in America, is completely different than a copper and gold mine that they're here. Coal is typically close to the surface. You don't have to go down 2,300 feet to get it.
So, this is the issue, where we as Americans think, oh, they can just drill in a couple days, they'll get them. Well, they're not a couple hundred feet. They're not 500 feet from the surface. They are 2,000 feet -- almost a half a mile into the Earth.
And also -- my parents lived in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, for a very long time, and my grandfather was a coal miner. We would go down to these coal mines as tourists, and it was cool. It was nice.
Oh, it was beautiful down here. Oh, that's where the water came from, right, that we were drinking?
But when you go down another 2,000 feet, it's not cool anymore. You're getting close to the core of the Earth. You're getting closer to what would be -- you know, where the water would come from, from, let's say, Yellowstone, from the glacier, from the geysers, right?
So the deeper you get, the hotter it gets. So these guys are down there, 90, 95 degrees, dehydration, of course. And it's the roughness. And it's also the roughness of the dirt and the soil, and how this dirt is cracked and how these rocks are cracked, that when they drill, they have to be very careful.
Let me just use this as an event. Let's say this is our box and that's where the guys are. You're drilling down from the top.
How slow do you think you have to drill to get down and pierce this box without completely caving in all the rocks around it? So when this happens, when they get close, they will move the miners out. And if that cave-in does occur, because there's nothing else to hold it up, then they'll move the miners back in and back up.
HARRIS: Oh, OK.
MYERS: This is long. This is a long, long process. Not getting miners out of a coal mine.
HARRIS: Yes. OK. So we're trying to wrap our -- thanks, Chad.
We're trying to wrap our minds around the idea of 33 people in 500 square feet of space, right? So take a look at this next clip from Rick's show yesterday. Then, after our "Random Moment," we will add 33 people, kind of a motley crew, to the mix.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: One, two, three, four, five, six. That's about six yards across, right? That's about 20 feet. Probably 21 the way I walked it.
So it's going to be about 20 feet by 25 feet that way. All right?
Now, you're looking at this, right? Small ceiling, completely dark, about 95 degrees in here. And then you've also got to consider one other thing -- there's 33 people here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, in Chile, 33 miners stuck underground at about 500 square feet of space, right? And yesterday, Rick paced off that area for us.
Now Josh Levs is here to show us what that space looks like with actual bodies filling it.
All right, Josh. Before you get started, if this doesn't work out well, it was your idea. If it works out brilliantly, of course, it was my idea. All right?
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: Like any manager you've ever met, right?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Way to be a team player, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: Oh man. Well, hey, we have it a lot better than obviously the miners do.
HARRIS: Oh yes. LEVS: We've got space above us, air-conditioning. We've got lights, all that good stuff.
Credit where it's due. We're going to take a quick look again at the clip that Rick did, because what I want you to see is what the space looks like empty. Then we're going to bring the cameras way up and look at how much space we actually have.
So here is "RICK'S LIST" yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: One, two, three, four, five, six. That's about six yards across, right? That's about 20 feet. Probably 21 the way I walked it.
So it's going to be about 20 feet by 25 feet that way. All right?
Now, you're looking at this, right? Small ceiling, completely dark, about 95 degrees in here. And then you've also got to consider one other thing -- there's 33 people here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: So we did consider that, and that's what we want to see now. What does this area look like with 33 people? You're talking a little bit more than 500 square feet. It's around 530, and that's pretty much exactly huh they have down there.
So we have rounded up 33 people. I would be 34, so I'm going to get out of the way.
We're going to ask all of our volunteers here to just kind of spread out, because we want you to get a realistic impression. Obviously, the miners wouldn't be standing really close together.
HARRIS: Can we have them walking around and this that and the other? Do we have music for this or anything?
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: Go ahead. Use all the space you've got. And I know we have some aerial shots, as well.
And what we should be thinking about as you take a look here is this is where the miners have been for weeks. It's where they could be for months.
HARRIS: Right.
LEVS: And you have to factor in on top of that that they have temperatures that are in the mid to high 90s, and that's as far as we know. Limited supplies, limited area to do anything at all. But this right here is exactly 33 people, and pretty much exactly the size that we're talking about, and the struggle that they're going through right now. You can imagine waking up in the morning, going to sleep at night, all in this kind of space, this proximity.
HARRIS: Well, think about it.
And guys, as you're doing this, think about this now. And think about doing this for the next three to four months. How uncomfortable with that be?
Show of hands. Very?
Right. Right. Right. OK. All right.
How did we do? Is it working out all right?
LEVS: Yes. And actually, you know what? I want everyone to understand, when we measured this pretty closely in advance -- we have marks all over the floor -- this really is pretty much what we're talking about.
And if you want to visualize what people are stuck in right now, what they're trying to survive throughout these conditions, this is pretty much what it is. If anything, they have just a couple feet more here or there, and then you factor in no sunlight and all the things that they have to deal with. And we're just here for a couple of minutes.
But this, folks, this is it, 33 people in that mine, in that little space.
HARRIS: Completely dark, and yes, deprivation going on. Right.
As I look at this crew, is security on the way? I'm sure there's some (INAUDIBLE) in this group.
LEVS: I actually hid all my valuables before they came up.
HARRIS: Yes?
LEVS: Let me just tell everybody one more note. On a serious note, I want to give a description, because what we're hearing from officials down there in Chile, it's a type of cavern where they have access to what was called a workshop, where they found batteries for light, water for consumption.
So they have managed to find some basics -- minor surviving -- and I think we heard some of this from Karl -- surviving for all these days with small amounts of tuna and mackerel that were in a shelter, along with these tiny little bits of water. So, you've got this many people stuck in that size space trying to get by for what could be until Christmas with limited supplies.
HARRIS: Yes. But, Josh, you drill the second borehole in there and you send more supplies down there. I think the real issue is, I mean, how wide a hole do you have to drill? Because you've got some guys down there with some bellies. You've got some bellies.
So, you know -- thank you, guys. That worked out all right?
LEVS: Thanks, volunteers. You did great.
HARRIS: OK.
Mo (ph), I need to see you in the principal's office.
She has had her share of court hearings, of course. And now you can add one more to the list, along with a new set of rules. Rules for Lindsay Lohan? Rules?
We've got the 411.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: Got to tell you, it is one of the most enduring mysteries of Hurricane Katrina. Nine elderly or frail patients at one hospital all died the same day and in the same way, given painkillers and sedatives. The country's leading forensic experts all concluded it was homicide, but to this day no one has been held accountable.
CNN's Drew Griffin reports, five years later, the families still want justice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): There is no mystery for Lou Ann Jacob. She knows what happened to her 90-year-old mother, Rose Savoy (ph), on the seventh floor of the New Orleans Memorial Hospital.
LOU ANN JACOB, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: She was definitely murdered.
GRIFFIN: Her mother, one of nine patients found dead in the hospital that were part of an extensive attorney general investigation concluding they were literally sedated to death by the last remaining hospital staff and a doctor named Anna Pou.
JACOB: I still feel it was premeditated murder because they planned it. They got medicine together, mixed the cocktail, put it in the syringes, and gave it to the patients.
GRIFFIN: It's not just Jacob's feelings that point to premeditation. CNN was the first to obtain this report from the Louisiana State attorney general's investigation revealing on September 1st, the day the hospital was to be evacuated, Dr. Anna Pou told staff, "lethal doses were going to be administered to the nine patients who could not be evacuated." The pharmacist told investigators he was instructed to bring morphine. Others told investigators they witnessed Dr. Pou administering drugs through IVs and a tray of syringes. And within just a few hours, every single one of the nine patients died. One patient awake and alert when given the lethal dose, openly complained. Jacobs said that patient was her mom.
JACOB: But I know in my heart that woman that got the shot that said "Oh! That burned!" That was my mom.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Is that not killing a person?
ART CAPLAN, BIOETHICIST: That is homicide.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Art Caplan is director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also one of five forensic and ethical experts consulted on the Memorial Hospital deaths by New Orleans coroner. All five concluded the hospital staff euthanized the nine patients.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Is this a case, though, where doctors did their best and failed?
CAPLAN: We don't know whether doctors did their best and failed. All I can say in reading the record is that I think they assisted the death involuntarily of these patients. If you ask them if they talked about it, they just said, "We better put these people to sleep."
GRIFFIN (voice-over): A grand jury was convened to investigate, but neither Caplan nor the other four experts were asked to testify. That grand jury failed to indict anyone.
Five years later, despite all the evidence, the New Orleans coroner still classifies the deaths as "unknown."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want justice.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Relatives of these victims have good reason to be frustrated with the law enforcement community here in New Orleans. Their cases, the cases of their loved ones, remain unsolved homicides.
And guess what else? Nobody seems to want to solve them, including the district attorney in open court last month. Leon Cannizzaro, the new district attorney of New Orleans, called what happened at Memorial Hospital a homicide. "I do believe human beings were killed as a result of actions of doctors."
That's what he said in court. Then he went on to say that he has no intention of pursuing the case unless new evidence shows up at his door.
(voice-over): Like the coroner, Cannizzaro said in court he just doesn't feel he has enough evidence.
(on camera): And get this -- the new district attorney, Leon Cannizzaro, he won't even come out and tell us why.
(voice-over): After weeks of asking and one day of waiting, the district attorney, we were told, slipped out a side door. Through her attorney, Dr. Anna Pou has consistently refused requests for interviews with CNN, but she has told other media outlets that, while she did inject some patients with the potent drug combination, it was for palliative care. Comfort, not murder.
In the ensuing years, the state, which employs Dr. Pou, has paid out hundreds of thousands in legal fees.
(on camera): CNN has been involved in an extensive lawsuit, trying to get the investigative records in this case opened up. We have been blocked by the hospital, by the hospital staff, workers themselves. And the district attorney, if he can just prove to a judge or try to convince a judge that there could be an investigation in the future, that could potentially keep these records sealed forever. The patient simply want those records opened up, we want them opened up, so we can determine once and for all what really did happen at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Drew Griffin for us.
Drew, appreciate it. Thank you.
Iraq got hit hard today. A wave of bombing spread out across the country. At least 48 people were killed and almost 300 wounded in the attacks.
Experts say the spree appears to be the work of al Qaeda in Iraq. Most bombs targeted Iraqi police and soldiers in an apparent effort to undermine confidence in Iraq's security network. The new violence comes as U.S. combat troops wind down their presence in Iraq.
Back home with family and friends, the 4th Stryker Brigade combat team returned to Joint Base Lewis-McChrod near Seattle this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dismissed!
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Love it. Love it. Can't get enough.
The 4th Stryker pulled out of Iraq just last week. The brigade deployed to Iraq a year ago, its second deployment of the war.
We want to hear from those of you directly affected by the war in Iraq. If you or a loved one have previously served, or are currently serving in Iraq, if you wouldn't mind, share your story with us. Wait for it, Tony. There you go. Pause, and the hug.
For more information, just go to cnnireport.com.
President Obama plans a major speech on the troop drawdown in Iraq next week. He will talk about the end of operations in Iraq.
And you can see the president's Oval Office address live on CNN. It is set for Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. That's 5:00 Pacific.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Political outsiders and big money influencing results from the primary elections. One Republican senator wins easily after what had been a strong challenge, but another GOP senator's career appears to be in jeopardy.
Last hour, I spoke with chief national correspondent John King, host of CNN's "JOHN KING USA," about the primary results.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We often want this big national narrative, and some people are saying, well, it was a good night for the establishment, because John McCain withheld and pushed away a challenge from the right in Arizona. Kendrick Meek, with the help of former President Clinton and the Obama administration, pushed off an outsider challenge to win the Democratic Senate nomination down in Florida.
So you could say, ah-ha, see, in this anti-establishment year, finally a good night for the establishment. Well, tell that to Bill McCollum. He was the establishment candidate for Republican governor in Florida. He lost.
Tell that to incumbent senator Lisa Murkowski up in Alaska. She's losing right now. They haven't finished counting the votes yet, but to a Tea Party challenger who had way less money and way less organization. So, it's hard to have a national narrative to this.
Another big narrative would be money. Senator McCain certainly outspent his opponent. He won.
Rick Scott outspent his opponent down in Florida in the Republican governor's race. He won.
But remember that billionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene? He spent all that money on the Democratic side in Florida's Senate race and he lost to Kendrick Meek.
So, no big national theme on this one. You've got to go state by state, candidate by candidate.
HARRIS: Well, let's do that. Let's do a little bit of that.
In Alaska, I'm just sort of curious. We're still trying to figure out the Tea Party and the Tea Party's influence. Did Tea Party politics and Sarah Palin play a significant role in that state's Republican Senate primary?
KING: Without a doubt. The Murkowski name in Alaska is like the Kennedy name in Massachusetts. Her father was in the Senate for a long time. There's a little blood rivalry between Sarah Palin and the Murkowski family.
She beat Lisa Murkowski's dad, Frank Murkowski, for governor a few years back. And many thought -- remember, Sarah Palin gave up her job early. She resigned the governorship to take her job at Fox News, to write a book, to travel the country. And many thought that, boy, that would spoil her political standing in the state of Alaska.
Well, she got behind this Tea Party candidate, Joe Miller. He had only run for office once before. She did a robocall to turn out the vote, her husband wrote a fund-raising letter, they generated some enthusiasm. And the votes aren't finished counting there yet, but Mr. Miller is ahead at the moment.
He's run a surprisingly strong race, win or lose. And without a doubt, the Palin factor was a big influence there.
HARRIS: All right. Let's move to Florida now. A lot of attention, as you know, will be paid. And we will be shining a spotlight on the Sunshine State in November. A big-money outsider took out -- look, one of the state's most visible insiders, right, in the GOP primary for governor. What happened there?
KING: I am fascinated by Florida. I used to say if I could camp out in one state this year, I would go to Ohio, because of the big races in the state of Ohio.
I might change my mind and go to Florida, because Tony, voters always complain to us. They say we want more choices, we want people outside of the party labels. You're showing Rick Scott on the right there. He's an outsider, a multimillionaire former health care executive. He will now be Republican candidate for governor for Florida. The Democratic candidate is the state's chief financial officer, Alex Sink. But they have a third-party candidate, who is the son of a former, Lawton Child. So, you have three candidates in the race for governor.
Look at the Senate race. You have three candidates there, too. The current governor, Charlie Crist, is running as an independent. You have Marco Rubio, the Republican. He's a conservative favorite, a big TEA party favorite. And then you have the winner of the Democratic primary last night, Kendrick Meek, an African-American Congressman from the Miami area.
It's a big state, it is ethnically diverse, it is economically diverse. It has a mix of industries, all the important constituencies you find across the country. Florida will now be a national laboratory for both Senate and governor of three-way races and third- party choices. And how can all that work? And trust me, not since the Ross Perot movement have we had a laboratory like the state of Florida this year to watch how people -- voters always say we want more choices. In Florida, they have them.
HARRIS: Wow, good stuff, huh? Tonight, be sure to watch "JOHN KING USA" at 7:00 Eastern for more coverage of the political scene. His guest, Rick Scott, winner of the Florida Republican primary for governor.
Michael Brown raised a lot of eyebrows during Hurricane Katrina. He is the former FEMA director who quit after widespread criticism of the government's response. Just days before the storm's fifth anniversary, Brown is in New Orleans. He is doing his radio show from the city tonight and tomorrow night. Michael Brown has a radio show.
Brown resigned two weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. His resignation just days after former president George W. Bush told him, quote, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
You know, by some estimates, Hurricane Katrina destroyed more than a quarter-million homes. Building them back as required a lot of ingenuity and financing and insurance and resources. A nonprofit group is helping cut through the red tape. Here is CNN's Tom Foreman with a "Building Up America" report.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony, when you think with about the quarter-million homes lost all up and down the Gulf Coast in Katrina, that number is just staggering.
But equally important is to think about what kind of homes were lost. In most cases, they were the homes of working people, the people who have to make the oil business and the port and the tourism business and everything else here work.
We caught up with some folks who were still five years after the storm working hard every day to help get those people settled again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (voice-over): When Katrina hit New Orleans working class neighborhoods took the worst of it; more fatalities, more flooding and less hope for navigating the bewildering tide of expenses and red tape to rebuild.
In the Ninth Ward, Florine Jenkins felt it.
(on camera): Did you have any clue what to do?
FLORINE JENKINS, NINTH WARD RESIDENT: No.
FOREMAN (voice-over): In the Gentilly (ph) neighborhood, Nikki Najiola (ph) saw it, too.
NIKKI NAJIOLA, BUILD NOW: You can tear down your house, you put it back together. If put it back together, do you have to elevate it? If you do, if you are going to elevate it, how high are you going to elevate it? Where is that money going to come from? Do you take it from this pool of money or from that? It was just so overwhelming. FOREMAN: That's why now Nikki manages a unique non-profit project called Build Now. Simply put, it is a construction company that offers an array of modestly praised home designs, an endless supply of free advice to anyone trying to build and a commitment to bring the working class neighborhoods back.
BEN SEYMOUR, BUILD NOW: We are actually currently in the living room.
FOREMAN: Ben Seymour is in charge of construction and says not only are the homes designed to stand far above floodwaters and resist gales with eve-less roofs and anchored porches, but the designs can also be easily adjusted; larger or smaller to fit the needs of families minding their money.
SEYMOUR: You can size it down, still gives you a big open feel. It is built to what you are going to use.
FOREMAN (on camera): In every way these really are working class family homes.
SEYMOUR: Absolutely. Absolutely.
FOREMAN (voice-over): This is not a giveaway. The clients pay fair value on average around $150,000. But just having a guide to the baffling process of permits, insurance and financing in the wake of Katrina, was a godsend for Miss Jenkins.
(on camera): Which house do you like better, your old house or this one?
JENKINS: This one. This one.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And one at a time, that is how they hope to keep turning empty lots into homes again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: There are many groups still involved in this kind of work, trying to help rebuild these neighborhoods. And it's a measure of how much damage was done and how the recovery goes on that they're still all needed -- and will be for years. Tony?
HARRIS: Good stuff, Tom. Thank you.
Should you buy a home or rent one? Today's housing market is testing conventional wisdom. Our Stephanie Elam goes over what you need to know. That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. Jack, let's rock this. Let's get everyone to CNNmoney.com, your source for financial news. Terrific work from our Money Team, as always. I like to mention that, because they do such terrific work. And in this economy, you need to know. Housing, gloom hangs over stocks. Let's leave that for now. Because we're going to talk about this a little bit more with Stephanie Elam.
We are three hours into the trading day, just past. And we have been trading in negative territory throughout the day, and it continues that way. We are down 44 points. The Dow is, the NASDAQ is down 4 points. We can call that essentially flat.
So, investors are digesting another round of disappointing numbers from the housing sector. Stephanie Elam joining us from New York. Stephanie, if you would, we see the latest numbers here at CNNmoney.com. The lead item on that page. But let's go a little deeper.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes, Tony, this is not exactly what we want to see. I guess the way you could put it is the real estate industry overall is just nursing a bad hangover from the expiration of that first time homebuyer tax credit, right? You remember back in April you were able to get that tax credit. That's gone, and you can see the impact now.
New home sales fell more than 12 percent last month. That is the lowest level on record. And analysts are actually looking for an uptick here. So, that just shows you just how far apart, what the estimate was, and what really came to fruition here.
And this comes on the heels of yesterday's report. Remember we were talking about existing home sales. That's like 90 percent of market. Think about it. Most homes we move into have been gently used by somebody else. So, that number tumbling more than 27 percent in July.
All of this shows that buyers, no hurry for them to jump into the market, especially since there is so much uncertainty about jobs, the overall feeling of the economy, and whether or not prices are going to continue to fall, Tony.
HARRIS: And if you feel a little jittery, a little edgy about this, does it make more sense just to represent right now until you've got, what, 20 percent that you can bring to the table and you've got a credit score of over 700? Does it just make sense to rent right now until you bring all those other elements to the table?
ELAM: You know, a lot of people are realizing you need a bigger chunk of change if you're going to try to buy a house right now. So, for a lot of people, it's not even really about oh, which one do I do? It's what they have to do. But for some people on the fence, it may make more sense because owning a home is often seen as the cornerstone of the American dream. But a recent study says 27 percent of renters don't plan on buying a home ever. Not at all.
HARRIS: Wow.
ELAM: Even though the median home price has fallen more than 20 percent from the peak, buying still isn't cheaper than renting in a lot of places.
So, economists use this rule of thumb. Homes are a fair price when they cost about 15 times what you would spend on rent in a year. So, if you spend $10,000 a year on rent, don't buy a home more than $150,000.
Real estate Web site Trulyia.com -- they looked at 50 cities. They did some math. And here are a few examples here. You can look at the map with us here. It's cheaper to buy in Minneapolis; Miami; Fresno, California. But it's cheaper to rent here in New York City -- no surprise there -- Seattle, and believe it or not, this one is kind of surprising. Omaha, Nebraska.
It's also important to think about how long you'll be in the home. If you're buying, got to factor in those closing costs. They can run two percent for the price, and a sales commission can run six percent. You've got to be there a while to make it worth it.
And there are also the tax implication implications. If you're in a higher tax bracket, owning may make more sense because you can deduct interest costs and property taxes. But overall, Tony, when you look at the situation that we're seeing in the housing market right now, you can see homeownership is on the decline. And that's something everyone needs to pay attention to.
HARRIS: Yes. Don't sleep on Omaha. That's a terrific city. Stephanie, good to see you. Thank you.
ELAM: You too! Sure.
HARRIS: And still to come, another weapon in Iran. A media there reporting a successful test firing of its new version of its Fateh missile. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. Let's take a look at top stories.
Mexican troops find 72 dead bodies dumped on a ranch. Military officials call it one of the largest discoveries of bodies in Mexico's four-year-old war on organized crime.
Iran has test-fired a new missile. The country's news agencies report this new missile is more accurate and has a longer range than previous models.
And Michigan is the latest state affected by the egg recall. That raises the total number of states that received recalls to 23. About 1,300 cases of salmonella across the country are linked to tainted eggs.
Hundreds of students take a stand against bullying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE). He committed suicide on May 13, 2010.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: They are speaking up for the young victims who suffer in silence and those who were allegedly bullied to death.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Bullying in school. It is a bigger problem than you might think. One in three students between the ages of 12 and 18 taunted, pushed, shoved, tripped, spit on or worse. And those are the students who report it. Now students, parents and teachers in Oklahoma are naming names. Fifteen kids who reportedly killed themselves because of bullying at school.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE). He committed suicide on May 13, 2010.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kimberly Lisenski (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brandon Cortland (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Carmichael (ph), who died in 2010.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kids have lost their lives because of it, and no one is doing anything about it to stop it. So that's why we're here, to try and stop it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This pledge that you see on display was written by the students of (INAUDIBLE).
CROWD: I will lead (ph) change because I am somebody.
KIRK SMALLEY, SON COMMITTED SUICIDE: (INAUDIBLE). Use that energy to help us fight bullying, to stop this from happening to another child. Stop it from happening to another family.
BRANDON LAFLUER, WESTERN HEIGHTS SENIOR: It doesn't just hurt people physically, it hurts them emotionally. We've seen people commit suicide over this. And not just here, all over the nation and all over the world. And it's just a big problem that needs to stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you guys up for this? Are you ready to make this --
ASHLEY ROBERTSON, WESTERN HEIGHTS STUDENT: That's why I'm here, just to stop it. Because I won't like people doing it to me, and I won't like me doing it to other people. And I know they won't like it if I do that.
SMALLEY: Our kids come first. I will fight bullying forever because my son will be 11 years old forever.
CROWD: I am somebody! UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because?
CROWD: I am somebody!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now let's get it done!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Vigils and rallies to bring awareness of bullying were held Tuesday in 19 other states and countries, including Australia and Canada.
What are the best online games of 2010? It's "What's Hot" on the Internet today. And we're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, we understand folks like to be comfortable when they travel, but there -- honestly -- there should be some established rules or dress on planes.
LEVS: That's the debate.
HARRIS: Well, yes, not after this picture you're going to show us. It's part of "What's Hot" on the Internet and Josh is here to talk to us about this other story. Facebook -- a Facebook hit list in southwest Columbia. Are you kidding me?
LEVS: No, we're going to start with this. There's now 100 names. There was this hit list that had 69 names. Now they've added another 31 names.
HARRIS: This is craziness.
LEVS: They've killed three teens who were on this list. You know, as awful as it is, it is good for us to stop and remember the violence in Colombia as a hemisphere.
HARRIS: Right, right, right.
LEVS: It's a world threat. This is a huge problem getting tons of traffic right now on cnn.com, a hit list in which people actually -- they're being given days to leave town and then there actually have been killings now from people on this list.
HARRIS: All right. (INAUDIBLE).
LEVS: So a lot of security concerns there.
All right, we get to lighten things up here. Take a look over here. This is a story that's also getting a lot of --
HARRIS: What is this? Can we move in on this? I know you don't want to.
LEVS: An iReport that we're getting here. This is from our iReport -- and this is a guy --
HARRIS: That's not an iReporter, is it?
LEVS: Who got out of -- that's not the iReporter himself.
HARRIS: Oh, OK.
LEVS: No, our iReporter goes by Coarsegoldca. But she has this picture. And this guy is flying first-class.
HARRIS: Right.
LEVS: And he got on the plane like that.
HARRIS: You can't get on -- come on, that's a gag. He didn't really -- he didn't think he was going to be allowed to fly looking like this, is he?
LEVS: He did. She says he flew first class.
HARRIS: That he actually took the trip.
LEVS: He got on the plane and flew.
Now, so it's triggered this discussion, should there be rules -- I mean this is America. He's free to wear --
HARRIS: Oh, come on. Yes.
LEVS: But it's technically indecent, and should there be rules, and how do you decide? How subjective do you get to be?
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: All right, we've got seconds left, so I've got to show the other thing.
HARRIS: You've got to consider other passengers. Come on, now.
LEVS: Anyway, this is more pleasant to see.
HARRIS: I think freedom isn't (ph) nasty.
LEVS: All right, "Times" out with its 50 -- all right, I still have 15 seconds.
HARRIS: Sorry.
LEVS: "Time" is out with its 50 best websites for 2010. And as part of it, they're showing the hottest games online.
HARRIS: Yes.
LEVS: You will all be shocked to learn I never play games online, so I didn't know any of these. Newgrounds.com.
HARRIS: OK.
LEVS: Apparently this awesome, hot game. Pogo. This one I'm familiar with. Has a lot of games you are familiar with. And, finally, cactussquid.blogspot.com, Tony. I now know what you're doing after the show today.
HARRIS: Yes, I'm going on to find out if my kids are on these games and playing these games.
Thank you, sir.
LEVS: You got it.
HARRIS: Good stuff. Solid. Solid.
LEVS: You got it.
HARRIS: Still to come, a Dallas man visiting family in Connecticut is alerted to his home being broken into, not by neighbors or police, but by his iPhone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: How about this for a low-cost security system? An iPhone app for less than $5 can help capture crooks. Really. Jason Whitely from our Dallas affiliate WFAA has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VINCE HUNTER, BURGLARY VICTIM: Oh this is -- the guy came in and he went like this to look inside the house.
JASON WHITELY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vince Hunter considers himself tech-savvy.
HUNTER: And then so we checked. We just checked on our phone and I've got a few web cams set up here. And we could see it kind of unfolding as the guys were leaving.
WHITELY: But never realized the newest app on his iPhone would thwart a burglary while he was out of town.
HUNTER: Fifteen hundred miles away, live footage to our phones of guys breaking into our house.
WHITELY: The technology is amazing.
HUNTER: They had just got done robbing the house.
WHITELY: It sent him a text message Friday afternoon alerting him of movement inside his house, as two men wearing gloves peeked through the patio door, then started throwing a brick at the glass.
HUNTER: This is where it hit right here. We watched them throw it three times. Right here you can kind of see where it.
WHITELY: Vince Hunter was in Connecticut, visiting his parents, watching helplessly as it all unfolded on his mobile phone.
HUNTER: The fourth time they decided to wind up and really let it rip, and it just -- it just went right through. And this here brick was sitting in the middle of our living room floor.
WHITELY: It's called the iCam. A $4.99 app.
HUNTER: The software broadcasts a sound.
WHITELY: The Hunters called 911 from Connecticut as their home security system did the same in Dallas. Minutes later, police, with guns drawn, stepped inside.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Unfortunately, the burglars got away. They are suspected in a number of break-ins in the area.
Took a peek at his rundown. He's got a really solid show for you coming up. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with the man, Ali Velshi -- Doctor.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, buddy. You have a great afternoon.
HARRIS: You too.
