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Food Poisoning Concerns; Concern for Trapped Chilean Miners

Aired August 26, 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: Today, we're taking a closer look at the safety of food that you eat, tracking it from its source to your lips. The big egg recall is making headlines now. Half a billion eggs, 23 states and hundreds of sick people. But this is hardly the first time that we've questioned the quality and safety of our food. We want to take a wider view of this.

Fall, 2006, bagged spinach was getting crossed off grocery lists after an E. coli outbreak that killed three people and sickened dozens. In 2008, peanut butter was recalled in a Salmonella outbreak. Nine people died, nearly 700 people got sick. Same year, peppers and tomatoes were identified as the source of another Salmonella outbreak, one that left about 1,500 people feeling ill, and just last year, health officials pinpointed cookie dough as the source of E. coli that made at least 80 people sick. A mother almost died. Because she nibbled on some raw cookie dough. She was hospitalized, nearly read her last rites. CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Linda Rivera was living the good life. A mother, wife, special ed assistant. Linda was happy and healthy but all that changed in May of 2009.

LINDA RIVERA, FOOD POISONING VICTIM: I felt like I had the cold, the flu, something like that.

GUPTA: In fact, Linda got so sick, her husband took her to the emergency room. There she was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and sent home. But the thing is she didn't get any better.

RICHARD RIVERA, LINDA'S HUSBAND: Then I asked if she was OK. She said no. If I have to go through this one more day, I'll die. So we took her in.

GUPTA: The doctors told her she had contracted E. coli OH-157. That's a dangerous food borne illness that can attack organs. The E. coli had settled into her colon, and doctors now had to remove it. A few days later Linda was told what gave her E. coli.

LINDA RIVERA: Our attorney called us and said that it was the cookie dough. I usually use the big tub and makes lots of cookies at one time. Just a couple of bites, that's all it took. BILL MARLER, RIVERA'S ATTORNEY: The reality is about 60, 65 percent of everybody who buys these products admits that they eat it raw. 76,000 people get E. coli 0157H7 each year and 50 and 100 deaths every year. So in the scheme of bugs, it's a relatively low number but it's a really nasty bug.

GUPTA: For a whole year, Linda had lots of problems. Her kidneys shut down. She couldn't walk or talk and she went into cardiac arrest. Three times she was almost given her last rites, but she never gave up. Now in a rehab hospital in San Francisco, Linda is learning to live again.

DR. PHILLIP O'KEEFE, CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CTR.: Her ability to deal with the pain and problems that she still has have been heroic.

GUPTA: Her husband, Richard, is right there with her and says he wouldn't wish this on anyone.

RICHARD RIVERA: For any family to have to go through this, I mean, it just - it does steal your life away. Linda is probably the most giving and cheerful and optimistic woman you'll ever meet, and she gave and gave and gave, and to see what this has done to her just tore me apart.

GUPTA: Linda is not going to give up. She has a lot to live for.

LINDA RIVERA: I don't want this horrible disease to win. So I want the rest of the world to know about it. They need to know. Don't take the chance with it. It's not worth it. You give up your life. You lose everything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Joining me now on the phone from Seattle, Linda Rivera's lawyer, Bill Marler, he's a leading attorney on food borne illnesses. Now, Bill, you are actually getting ready to go visit Linda in the hospital. How often do you see her, and why do you do that?

MARLER: Oh, I see Linda and Richard about every other week, every three weeks. They are just an amazing couple. You know, it's my anniversary today and actually my wife and I are going to visit them. And frankly, I just do it because they're the greatest people I've met in 17 years of doing these kinds of cases. You know, eventually, you really care about these folks, and, you know, they're just special people.

PHILLIPS: Why do you keep taking on these cases? And you take on these cases, and you win, Bill, and yet we keep seeing more and more outbreaks and more and more cases like this.

MARLER: Well, you know, I fill the gap where the government has failed. You know, you look at this egg case. No one from FDA, no one from State Inspection Services has ever set foot inside that plant and yet, you know, we have over 1,300 people sick and half a billion eggs recalled, and, you know, we're going to sue this guy and we're going to find out why it happened.

You know, the civil justice system is a blunt instrument for social change, but it's really what our government has left us with because of their failure to adequately fund the FDA, FSIS and the CDC to protect us from, you know, bad actors, like many of these food companies that I've sued over the last 17 years.

PHILLIPS: And is it food companies that are just being careless with food safety or is it organizations that are just not doing enough monitoring? Because if these companies aren't going to have the monitoring, they're probably going to do whatever they have to do to save money.

MARLER: Well, unfortunately, it's a little of both. You know, the government jumps from one crisis to another in the food problems, and they get all excited about E. coli, spinach or peanut butter with Salmonella, and they say they're going to do something, but actually nothing ever happens. And they have hearings and nothing ever happens, and then when they do pass legislation, they don't adequately fund the entities that are supposed to watch.

For example, the egg rule, which went into effect in July of this year but had been sort of talked about for decades, had been talked about in the Clinton administration, had been put aside during the Bush administration, had been resurrected during the Obama administration. They still didn't fund the FDA to do the egg inspections that in my view would have prevented this recent outbreak.

PHILLIPS: So you've handled peanut butter, spinach, undercooked meat and now you're handling 35 families affected by this egg Salmonella outbreak. Is this finally the outbreak that's going to make major change or are you a little pessimistic thinking "I'm going to have a bunch of lawsuits, I'm probably going to win and probably going to shut down companies, but, hey, it's really up to our government to prevent this again"?

MARLER: Well, it's really a shared responsibility. Consumers have to demand companies do the right thing and not poison them. And they need to pay for the food that is safe. They need to demand of their government the action and the funding and we need to be able to pay for it. I mean, we need to tax ourselves to pay for that, and we need to hold companies responsible.

If any Congress member or senator or any of your viewers just watched that video clip of Linda, and if that's not enough - if that's not enough, I don't know what is.

PHILLIPS: Yes, you make a good point.

MARLER: If congress isn't going to - Linda Rivera is Harry Reid's constituent. If Harry Reid, Senator Harry Reid, my majority leader, cannot get this Senate bill to the floor and get a vote on it and if the president can sign it and it can be adequately funded - if that can't happen, then I guess they're just going to let me do my job and bankrupt companies and collect millions of dollars for my clients.

PHILLIPS: Bill Marler, we'll be following your clients definitely in this egg recall and appreciate your time once again and also what do you for so many of these families, especially families like the Rivera family.

Time now for a success stories about how our food has been safer. When an E. coli outbreak tainted lettuce just a few years ago, the industry knew that it had to improve safety before it could win back consumers. So the farmers turned to the experts who had the most power to bring about change, themselves.

CNN's Dan Simon is in Salinas, California, with a closer look. Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Kyra. Coming to you from America's salad bowl. When you go to the grocery store, chances are when you pick up that bag of lettuce, it's coming from Salinas Valley, California. Behind me, you can see some workers harvesting some red lettuce leaves. This is prime harvest season when it comes to so much produce here in Salinas Valley, California.

Kyra, as you mentioned, in 2006, this area was facing an enormous challenge after some spinach was tainted with E. coli. Well, that caused the entire industry to take a really close look at itself and figure out a way to raise the bar when it comes to safety. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And slide the knife right in there.

SIMON (voice-over): To understand how the lettuce industry functions, you have to put on the hair nets and go to the field where it's grown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now you turn it over and you got a beautiful head of red butter lettuce.

SIMON (on camera): And it will go to the grocery store just like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

SIMON (voice-over): When you buy that lettuce, chances are it's coming from here, California's Salinas Valley. The Chamber of Commerce says the valley produces about 80 percent of the nation's leafy greens. Farmer Jess Quinlan (ph) have a message for grocery store shoppers everywhere.

JESS QUINLAN, VEGETABLE FARMER: We feel that we have the responsibility of providing a safe product, not only the responsibility but the moral obligation to provide a safe product.

SIMON: It's something that farmers feel the need to state repeatedly because not so long ago, in 2006, Salinas Valley became a symbol for those questioning the country's food supply. Spinach tainted with E. coli caused a national scare after hundreds of people became ill and at least three people died.

(on camera): It wasn't just the spinach industry that took a hit. The entire leafy green industry suffered. Many Americans just began questioning whether they were truly eating safe products. Company executives realized they had a serious problem and knew they to do something dramatic.

SCOTT HOHSFALL, LGMA CEO: Food safety has always been a priority for members of the industry. But there had been no government oversight.

SIMON: So the California lettuce and spinach industry in may sound like a surprising move insisted on government oversight. Three years ago it formed what is known as the LGMA, the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, a private/public partnership.

Companies agreed on a set of rigorous safety standards and then asked to be inspected by government auditors.

(on camera): So you and your colleagues are on the front lines to make sure our produce is safe?

STEVE THOMAS: I would say, yes. That's correct.

SIMON (voice-over): Steve Thomas leads a group of USDA-trained auditors looking for problems in the fields, such as contaminated water and fresh animal tracks that might lead to E. coli.

THOMAS: What we do is minimize the chance for contamination.

SIMON: The inspections have made farmers like Jess Quinlan more cautious.

(on camera): Do you feel the industry has been rehabilitated as a result of the organization?

QUINLAN: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I think it's been great. Food safety has allowed us to transcend our differences. There is competitiveness but because of food safety, everybody is on board because everybody feels that this is the most important thing out there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIMON: And that is a message he hopes many people will take to heart. You know, Kyra, this is a model that the rest of the nation is looking at. The secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, he was here just last week, coming to the fields, talking to the workers and looking at this program as an example of something that could spread across the country, sort of a model, if you will, that could be applied to many different kinds of industries across the country. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Dan Simon, thanks for that. And just go to our web site to learn more about food safety, the egg recall and how to protect yourself and your family. Just head to eatocracy.com.

Swirling fire in Brazil, high winds, burning brush combined to form a rare sight. It's all caught on tape.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Plus, the tropics are getting very active, we've got Hurricane Danielle, tropical storm Earl. Could Fiona be far behind? We'll let you know coming up with the weather forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, this stunning sight lit up the skies of Aracatuba, Brazil. How does that sound, Jacqui? Strong winds and brush fires combined to create a fire tornado. The swirling blaze was actually caught on camera as it moved across an open field. It even stopped traffic. It was a spectacle. Luckily nobody got hurt. It's bizarre, huh?

JERAS: Amazing pictures.

PHILLIPS: Do you see that very often?

JERAS: You see it once in a while.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

JERAS: We've had them here with the big fires in the U.S.. The air from, you know, the environment gets sucked into it and with an updraft, it goes into a tornado. Yes, wild stuff.

We have fires across the U.S. as well, especially watching the inner mountain west where the fire danger remains high and red flag warnings are in place. We've had a lot of heat across the southwest. Fires have been burning in Idaho as well as southern California and this big front is coming through and so the winds are going to be very high behind the front, up to 60 miles per hour but it is going to cool you down by tomorrow and last you through the weekend. So a little bit of good news for you there.

We're also keeping our eye on the tropics, Danielle, a hurricane, category 2, winds of 105 miles per hour. The track of Danielle brings it to the northwest and then curves it all around, all the way from the United States. We are also keeping our eye on Earl. This is a tropical storm and you can see the track on this one a little bit more southerly. It doesn't bring it over land, at least not for the next five days or so but this one bears watching a little bit more for the Atlantic coast residents.

Of course, we'll keep you up to date on that. In addition to that, we've got two other tropical waves that are coming off the coast of Africa. So we'll have to watch and see how things develop. There's a lot of dust in the air which kind of inhibits hurricanes a little bit. So potentially in the next couple of days, we have yet another storm to watch. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jacqui, thanks.

It's time now to hit the road and go cross country for some headlines around the U.S..

First stop, Flint, Michigan, suspected serial killer (INAUDIBLE) is being extradited there for an afternoon arraignment. The Israeli citizen is suspected of 18 random knife attacks in Michigan, Ohio and Virginia. Five of those victims died.

Next stop, Madison, Wisconsin, a family poses, the thief strikes. The bad guy right behind the dad is apparently taking the family's bag. When the vacationing clan discovered the bag missing, well, they just checked the digital image, realized they captured the crime and called police. Cops recognized the suspect and arrested him just down the road carrying the bag.

Our last stop, Dover, Delaware, a lesson in the three Rs, reading, writing and reward. The school district wanted to start paying parents to attend events. It's not clear how much but the money could come from federal grants and that cash would then go into the child's college fund.

Like we've just said, One Delaware school district is considering paying parents to help fix troubled schools. We're going to be tackling that question and possible solutions all next week. We want you to be a part of the conversation. Do you have any questions about your child? Well, ask Principal Perry at CNN.com/kyra, he's our education contributor. Steve Perry is going to join us starting Monday to answer some of your questions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: 33 trapped miners in Chile. They're getting toothbrushes, vitamins, and now word that they may not be rescued for months. CNN's Karl Penhaul is reporting from that mine in northern Chile.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rescue workers pack a thin metal tube with survival rations. Water, liquid protein and medicine to keep the trapped miners alive. It takes some 20 minutes to get the tube down to the shelter where the men are stranded, 700 meters or 2,300 feet under ground. Some may be cracking under the ordeal.

JAIME MANALICH, CHILEAN HEALTH MINISTER: At least three or four of them are in a real hard time. Regarding they aren't sleeping well. They are very nervous, and in some way depressed.

PENHAUL: Work is expected to start at the weekend to drill a shaft big enough to pull the men back to the surface. But some of the miners will have to diet to stand a chance of squeezing through the hole which will measure just 60 centimeters or two feet wide. MANALICH: According to the medical records that we have, exactly nine of them were overweight. We suppose that - we think that they have lost already eight kilos.

PENHAUL: On the surface, it's a struggle, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, Karl Penhaul joins us live now from that mine. Karl, just a bit of your piece to give folks an idea of how rescuers are trying to take care of these miners under ground, and, you know, other networks have been reporting that they have been told it's going to take months, possibly, to get them out of there. Have you been able to confirm that, and, if so, how are they responding?

PENHAUL: Yes. The bottom line on have they been told or not, the bottom line on that really is that they have not been told straight out how long the experts think it will take them to get out, and there's a reason for that, because the health minister doesn't believe they're in the right mental shape just yet to have that news broken to them in one go.

So what they're doing is softening them up. The president has had a conversation with the miners and he said, "well, guys, it's not going to be before September the 18th, and it's not going to be after December the 24th,' but, of course, that leaves a whole chunk of time in between, but what the health minister says is that in the coming days, it will give them more clues, more hints, and then finally say that this is how long we think that new drill is going to take to get down there.

Now, figure it out, that drill, which hasn't even started work yet is expected to start work at the weekend can drill maybe a maximum of 60 feet a day if the conditions are good, and it's got to go 2,300 feet, not once but twice. It drills a small hole first and then a larger hole. That is the reason for the time line but because the miners yet aren't seen to be psychologically in great shape that it hasn't been broken to them, that news hasn't been broken to them in one go.

PHILLIPS: So, we're also hearing that these miners have assigned each other roles, like a spiritual leader, a medical leader, a team leader. What can you tell us about that?

PENHAUL: There are three leaders that have emerged there under ground. One is the shift manager, the guy who was the manager of that shift, anyway. So he has a kind of an administrative leadership role, anyway. He was the boss anyway. There's a man down there who has some nursing experience, and so he's the man that's been put in charge of running some tests to evaluate the psychological health of the miners.

Those tests, a written sheet, have been passed down a tube from the surface. He's also in charge of administering things like urine tests, blood pressure tests and making sure that the miners are eating and sleeping as best they can. And then there's the guy that's been described as the spiritual leader, Mario Gomez, a guy that we profiled earlier on in the week.

He is the most veteran miner there. A 63-year-old. He's been mining since he was 12. His father was a miner before him and he is also the man that has asked the rescue workers on the surface to send down some religious statuettes, some statuettes of Catholic saints so they can clear an area of that shelter to set up a shrine for the miners to pray, the Chilean miners, here, are very religious and also very superstitious. So that shrine will also help them.

PHILLIPS: Wow. That's really fascinating details. Karl Penhaul, we will continue to check in with you on what's happening with those miners daily. Thank you so much.

A police shooting and killing unarmed men in New Orleans and allegations of a police coverup in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Five years after the storm, we're taking a look at all those investigations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Five years after Hurricane Katrina, and the New Orleans Police Department still suffers from a lack of trust. Public confidence tarnished by allegations that police shot and killed unarmed residents after that storm hit and took extreme measures to cover it up. Our Drew Griffin continues his investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: The numbers alone are staggering. Sixteen New Orleans cops either pleading guilty or under indictment for the killing and cover-up of civilians during Hurricane Katrina. Cops killing, cops conspiring, cops lying to high an awful crime spree in the aftermath of a killer storm.

In one week, New Orleans police shot and killed five people. Four of them shot in the back, all but one of them unarmed, leading to what federal prosecutors now say was a cover-up by ranking officers in a police department even the new mayor admits cannot be trusted.

(on camera): Can people in this city right now have faith in their police department?

MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU, NEW ORLEANS: No, I don't think so. The department is supposed to protect and serve, and right now it's not done either of those things well. My top priority as mayor is to make the city safe. It can't be safe without a police department people trust.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Mayor Mitch Landrieu took office this year and immediately asked for federal help, asking the Department of Justice to intervene, to partner and monitor his own cops. His new police chief just this week unveiled a 65-point plan to revamp the entire department.

RONAL SERPAS, SUPERINTENDENT, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPT.: What we need to is focus on the officers doing the right things and keep them motivated --

GRIFFIN: To civil rights attorney Mary Howell, it is hard to imagine a police department that could do worse.

MARY HOWELL, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Police didn't cause any of this, just revealed the degree to which, once again, this department had collapsed.

GRIFFIN: Howell represents the family of Ronald Madison. And of all the police killings in the aftermath of Katrina, the death of this 40-year-old mentally retarded man is, perhaps, the most troubling. Running with his brother across this bridge to escape what they believed was a gunfight, plain clothes New Orleans police actually chased him down and then gunned him down at the entrance to this motel. Madison was unarmed, shot in the back, dropped, as one witness told us, as he was running away.

KASIMIR GASTON, WITNESS: He just fell like he was collapsing, like he was collapsing. Like something had just wiped him out.

GRIFFIN (on camera): You didn't see any gun on him?

GASTON: I didn't see anything.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): In the months that followed, the U.S. Attorneys office now says 11 police officers would conspire to tell lies, making up fake witnesses, lying about whether Madison or his brother had a gun, even holding a secret meeting to make sure their made-up stories matched.

JIM LETTEN, U.S. ATTORNEY: The extent of the cover-up is very, very significant.

GRIFFIN: Five of the officers once heralded by their own have pled guilty. Six more are under indictment, still professing innocence. One defense attorney did suggest an explanation as to how victims could be shot in the back.

FRANK DESALVO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They're moving. They're moving. Or they could have been in the process of turning around when the shots were fired.

GRIFFIN: The federal grand jury is still investigating two of the police shooting, and more charges might be coming.

LANDRIEU: As a kid that grew up in the city of New Orleans, you get very, very frustrated that things have been allowed to get this bad. But you have to acknowledge that, and then right the ship, turn it around and force it to go in the right direction. And that's what we're intent on doing.

GRIFFIN: With all of the charges, trials yet to take place, evidence of Katrina cover-ups just now coming to light, it may be a long time before the people of New Orleans, even the city's mayor, can trust its own police.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Here's the issue, and you and I well know. This is a department that has had problems for a very long time, back to even when I was a reporter there 15 years ago. I mean, it's just not an easy thing to fix.

GRIFFIN: And, in fact, in the year before Katrina, this department was spiraling downhill. There were civil rights attorneys in that town begging for the Justice Department to come in. Really, the justice department has come in after the fact, after everybody was begging them to come in.

And it literally took Katrina to do this. They are trying to revamp the system. But as we were talking before, one of the things they're trying to change, if you're a police officer and you lie on a police report, you may get fired. That's one of the rules they are trying to implement. That's how far down the department has gone.

PHILLIPS: There's the issue, too, how did you recruit officers when you can't pay a lot of money? There's a lot of people that don't -- but, then again, I'm curious. Has the bad economy helped at all in getting, maybe, other officers from other areas? Has that made an impact?

GRIFFIN: Well, you do have interest from other places and fire department as well, from other areas coming down there. I have seen some ops who obviously are not from New Orleans. But that also creates problems because you have the, "Oh, you're not one of us" syndrome.

PHILLIPS: It's such a tight city.

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: Who is your daddy? Who is your mommy? Where did you live, and if the police officer coming in does not understand that, there is that lack of trust and lack of trust among other officers who see you as an outsider. So, it's a really precarious situation as these -- new mayor and new police chief who are really old politician and old police officer from New Orleans --

PHILLIPS: They're both from there. They've been there for their whole lives.

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: They are trying to revamp a system, and right now the crime rate is up. The police do not trust -- do not have the trust of the people, and now the mayor says, "I don't trust the police." So you have this mess. It's going to have to go through some turmoil before it can rise up from the ashes.

PHILLIPS: You have been on it for five years and will probably be on it for another ten. Drew, thanks.

Well, this program note. CNN's Anderson Cooper returns to the New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Promises made, but were they kept? We'll see what he found "IN KATRINA'S WAKE," a "Building Up America" and AC360 special, tonight at 10:00 Eastern.

It's about time to find another CNN viewer a job. We're talking to a woman who was the first in her family to go to graduate college, went to grad school, had solid I.T. jobs and even taught classes. Her "30 Second Pitch" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The job market: you're worried about it, and so is Wall Street. Today we have a new snapshot of where things stand. Patricia Wu at the New York Stock Exchange has the details. Hey, Patricia.

PATRICIA WU, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra. Well, we've got a little bit of good news today. New jobless claims fell by 31,000 last week. That's a bigger drop than expected, so it shows that layoffs slowed last week since it measures people who signed up for unemployment benefits for the first time.

So, it is good to see it decline, but it's still a very high number. 473,000 have filed last week. Claims have been around that level all year, and in a healthy economy, new claims are under 400,000. So, that does show that we still have a ways to go. And unemployment rate is likely to stay high.

But we'll take a look at Wall Street. They're taking that little bit of good news. The Dow is up 39, the NASDAQ up about nine. So, at least they're focusing on that little bit of good news. Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Patricia, thanks.

Julia Manning is well educated, has lots of experience in the information technology field, has taught classes, and she's wondering why it's so hard to find a full-time job. Julia's been jobless for the last nine months now, and she has another concern: her elderly aunt and uncle who raised her. Sure would be nice if someone in or around Chicago would help her out.

Julia is with us to make her "30-Second Pitch." Hey, Julia.

JULIA MANNING, JOB SEEKER: Hi.

PHILLIPS: This is the hardest part. You are the first in your family to graduate college. You worked hard to pay for college. It's frustrating because you see so many spoiled kids that don't even have to drop a dime and don't even realize how difficult life can be because they've just been given it all, and you know the meaning of hard work, and you've been struggling to find a job.

MANNING: Definitely. It hasn't been easy at all. I have tried all avenues. I went and networked, shaked hands with people. I sent out my resume over the Internet, I've talked to people who I know through my own network. And still it's been hard to find success in finding a job. Has not been easy at all.

PHILLIPS: Something you have done that's been so fantastic and a lot of our folks who have given the pitches have done this, volunteering so you could at least keep your skills sharp, and it's helped you with networking, yes?

MANNING: Yes, definitely, it helps me with networking and keeping my skills sharp, most importantly, and also, doing something for a good that's greater than myself. I volunteer for an organization called (INAUDIBLE) Foundation, who allows people with a professional background like myself to offer their skills while they are in transition, to find themselves up to date and current on their technology. I'm currently working as a project manager volunteering.

So, it's a just great experience and also a way like -- a lot of employers want people to have a job. I'm showing that I'm currently working. So, one of the things is they can't restrict me from not working when I'm currently volunteering and showing that I'm keeping up my experience.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. You are not sitting back and feeling sorry for yourself. I admire that tremendously. It's pretty incredible what you've been doing. Well, Julia, you ready to give your "30 Second Pitch"?

MANNING: Sure!

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's start the clock. Julia, take it away.

MANNING: My name is Julia Manning. I have a masters' degree in business information technology. I have ten years of diverse experience in I.T., and I've worked in several different industries, including health care, pharmaceutical and financial.

I bring to any organization my positive attitude, my excellent work ethic, my ability to get projects done. My tenacity to make sure those projections are done efficiently and with quality. My name is Julia Manning, and I would be glad to be a part of any organization that would give me the opportunity.

PHILLIPS: They would be lucky to have you I'm sure. You hit it right there on 30 seconds. I think it's pretty amazing what you do for your aunt and uncle. They took you in and raised you. And now you're taking care of them. We got to get you a job.

Julia Manning, really appreciate your time.

MANNING: Thank you, I appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

MANNING: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: If you are out of the work, you want to sell yourself to prospective employers, let us know. Just send your resume and letter to 30SecondPitch@CNN.com. Also, if you want to hire our 30 Second Pitchers, just go to our blog, CNN.com/kyra. You'll see Julia's pitch among others. All the information and e-mails will be there.

Let's check our top stories. A German pop star has been found guilty of not telling sexual partners she's HIV positive and infecting one of her partner.

Sex for sale on Craigslist. The Web site is now bowing to pressure to shut down its adult services section. Instead, Craigslist says it will work with authorities to prevent misuse of its site. Seventeen state attorneys general are demanding the Web site to get rid of adult services, saying its ads for prostitution victimize women and children.

Hints of salmonella outbreak linked to eggs may have gotten out weeks before the FDA sounded a warning. According to a "USA Today" report, state and federal health agencies identified Iowa's Wright County Egg Company as a likely source of illness back in July, but a recall decision wasn't made until two weeks later after an FDA investigation.

Well, you know Special Olympics is supposed to be all about inclusion. Well, we're asking why this wonderful organization has shut this teen girl out and denied her the chance to play on its basketball team.

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PHILLIPS: Well, Special Olympics is supposed to be all about inclusion, but it actually said no to this athlete in Illinois. Seventeen-year-old Jenny Youngwith wanted to play basketball for the Special Olympics team, but it rejected her because of her service dog and the oxygen tank that he carries for her. Never mind the fact that she's already played hoops with other programs with Simba right there by her side for six years.

pecial Olympics of Illinois is worried that the dog and the tank could be risky for other athletes. Here's its statement: "Regarding the use of service animals and metal oxygen tanks by athletes during competitive sporting events, we hope that the community will recognize Special Olympics Illinois must make decisions that take into account the safety and wellbeing of all athletes participating in its sporting events and practices. Those familiar with our programs and philosophy knows that Special Olympics Illinois regularly makes reasonable accommodations to permit individual athletes to compete safely with their teammates and competitors."

Last hour, Jenny's mom told us how this has really upset Jenny. Jenny told us the same thing and that she wants to play basketball and be with her friends. It's baffled the whole family, so now they're taking the matter to federal court.

And we wanted you to weigh in. Here's what we got from you.

Jennifer says, "I don't think it's fair that this girl won't be allowed to play on the Special Olympics team. Isn't that what the special in Special Olympics is all about, to give opportunities to children with disabilities to play sports?"

Mike says, "I understand the Special Olympic committee decision perfectly. A player were a dog with five feet of separation and a tube between them running unpredictably on a basketball court is a danger to everyone else on the court. Unfortunate for Jenny, but it's not about her but about the safety of everyone else."

And this from Sophia. "I think she should be included only if her parents will sign a consent stating that the Olympics will not be responsibility for any injury or death that may result from her participation in the sports and that the family cannot sue Special Olympics."

Well, remember, we always want to hear from you. Just log on to CNN.com/kyra and share your comments.

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PHILLIPS: It's time for "Home and Away," our daily tribute to our men and women in uniform who made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, we're lifting up Second Lieutenant Jeffrey Carl Graham. He was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq in February of 2004. Jeffery's fiancee, Stacy Martinez, joins us via Skype from Elizabethtown, Kentucky to talk about him.

You both were Army brats? Isn't that right, Stacy?

STACY MARTINEZ, 2nd LIEUTENANT JEFFREY GRAHAM'S FIANCEE: Yes, we were.

PHILLIPS: So, you understood why he wanted to do this, and you supported his service.?

MARTINEZ: Completely. I grew up an Army brat. I understood the sacrifice involved.

PHILLIPS: Why was it important to both of you?

MARTINEZ: Important for both of us?

PHILLIPS: Yes.

MARTINEZ: For being Army brats.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. For Jeffrey to serve and be a part of the military.

MARTINEZ: Right. We both understand the sacrifices that were involved. We both understood what being in the Army entailed. I knew Jeff wanted to grow up to be just like his father. His father meant the world to him and I knew that's what he wanted to do.

PHILLIPS: Now, he actually said to you one time when he was getting ready to go back overseas, he said, "My men need me." Tell me why he said that to you. What was he talking about?

MARTINEZ: Jeffrey had just suffered the loss of his brother, Kevin. Kevin died by suicide, and Jeff had the option of not deploying. And so one of the things that was offered was a stateside position versus having to go overseas. And Jeff said, "No, I have men over there that need me. They need my leadership," and he declined the stateside position to go deploy, fully knowing the sacrifice that was involved.

PHILLIPS: How amazing that he said, "I have to go over there, and my men need me," and then came that moment when he was just beginning to cross over that bridge, and he saw an IED. Tell us, Stacy, what happened.

MARTINEZ: They were doing a foot patrol to secure an overpass or bridge and they saw the IED. Once they saw the IED, Jeff immediately stopped the platoon and had the platoon disperse before he called in the IED. At that time, as the men were moving away from the bomb, at that time is when the bomb exploded.

PHILLIPS: And so when did you get word?

MARTINEZ: I found out several hours later. I had just returned. I was in pharmacy school; I had just returned home from one of my rotations, and I found out from my parents who received word from Jeff's parents earlier that day.

PHILLIPS: Now, I know that his memory is kept alive in many ways in your life, but you've got to tell our viewers the story about the ladybug.

MARTINEZ: I was having a really hard time, of course, when Jeff died, and I was at church one Sunday, and there was a ladybug on the pew in front of me. And so this ladybug sat there through most of the church service, and I for some reason had a connection with this ladybug, so as I'm talking to it in my mind, the ladybug started to wander away. And I said to myself and the ladybug, "Jeffrey, please don't go and leave me again." This ladybug stopped walking down the pew and it turned around and sat in front of me for the rest of the church service.

So, ever since then I have had a strong connection with lady bugs and all ladybug type items.

PHILLIPS: And as we know, ladybugs are symbol of good luck and this brings an entirely new meaning. And you actually have a ladybug necklace around your neck?

MARTINEZ: I do, I do. I wear it almost every day.

PHILLIPS: Wow. And now you're getting to raise some money for T.A.P.S., one of our favorite organizations that provides money for families and kids that have lost Mom and Dad during these wars, and you're going to run an Army ten-miler that's going to raise money for T.A.P.S. Are you ready for this? MARTINEZ: I'm ready. I hope I'm ready. The training started a couple of weeks ago, so we have raised about $3,000 so far, Team Wildcats has. And so, we're ready to go. We are ready to honor Jeff and Kevin and run in their memory.

PHILLIPS: I know you used to run with Jeff. So, he's going to be really proud with you. Are you going to be talking to him to inspire you to make it that ten miles?

MARTINEZ: Oh, definitely. Of course. I have run several half- marathons already, and he's been my motivation and inspiration to complete them.

PHILLIPS: Oh, well then, this will be easy for you then. Stacy Martinez, thank you so much for sharing Jeff's story. We really appreciate it.

MARTINEZ: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

If you have a loved one you'd like to honor, here's all you have to do. Go to CNN.com/homeandaway, type in your service member's name in the upper right-hand search field and pull up the profile. Send us your thoughts and pictures, and we promise to keep the memory of your hero, all of our heroes, alive.

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PHILLIPS: Who says you need a guitar or even Guitar Hero to totally rock out?

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PHILLIPS: Why are you laughing, Tony?

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Love it. Because I used to do this as a kid! Are you kidding me? I still do it now. I'll jump into this whole air guitar thing.

PHILLIPS: Really?

HARRIS: It was bass guitar for me.

PHILLIPS: Bass. Who did you pretend you were?

HARRIS: It was Louis Johnson of The Brothers Johnson. It was Larry Graham, Grand Central Station, who is out on tour with Prince all of the time now. But I was an air bass guitarist. I love this.

PHILLIPS: There you go. Well then, you know what? There's no need to say anything more. This is the contest in Finland. Tony would beat all of them, and that's where Tony comes in and tops the hour. HARRIS: All right. Have a great day, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: See you, Tony.