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Army Reeling From Suicides; Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's Battle; Debating High Fructose Corn Syrup

Aired September 30, 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: We begin this hour talking about soldiers in danger, at risk. Not on the battlefield, but at their own hands. And we're learning this morning that just this past weekend it appears four Army soldiers took their own lives at Ft. Hood in Texas.

But as you know, because we've talked about this alarming trend of suicides here on this newscast, far too many times, that soldier suicides have risen each of the past five years. Just a couple of months ago, the Pentagon released a report on record high military suicides. 239 soldiers and reservists died by suicide just last year. And there were more than 1,700 suicide attempts.

Soldiers battling depression, stress, medical and relationship problems, and sometimes drug abuse. And as you can see, all of that is taking its toll in our men and women in uniform, clearly more has to be done.

Now back to Ft. Hood and Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining us. She's following the story for us. She's in New York actually today. You know, hearing about these four suspected suicides in one weekend is tough to comprehend, but there have already been 14 suicides at Ft. Hood this year, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, there have been. You know, Ft. Hood, the largest U.S. Army base in the world, 50,000 people, is a real microcosm of what is going on. Look at it this way, tens of thousands of troops, of course, have deployed to the war zones, suffered terrible stress, but do come home and in some fashion very successfully do resume their lives.

There are some that come home and this tragedy befalls them. That's the problem for the Army and for the military right now. Why is this trend in suicides creeping up month by month, year by year? Researchers will tell you it's the same three basic issues that plague people tragically. Relationship issues, money issues, substance abuse issues. At Ft. Hood right now there is a feeling of crisis, if you will. The commander has come out and talked about it openly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM GRIMSLEY, FORT HOOD SENIOR COMMANDER: Those 14 soldiers and their losses are felt every day by their formations and their leaders, but those same leaders who are tackling these problems, and the issues that led to those 14 to take the step that they did, are the same leaders who are leading literally every day here thousands of soldiers at Ft. Hood who are facing the same stresses, the same challenges, the same periods of deployment, and the same issues as everybody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: And there you go. That's the issue on the table. What makes some soldiers able to go through a period of stress, but come home and able to deal with the problems, some tragically cannot. Ft. Hood was supposed to really be the showcase for suicide prevention. They have all sorts of counseling programs, efforts, encouraging soldiers to ask for help if they need it.

Commanders being trained to keep an eye on each and every soldier in their unit so they can spot trouble early and get help to those who need it. But tragically right now it's not working. There's a spike and it's not really understood why there's a spike and they're going to keep working away at it. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Sure hope they do. Barbara Starr, thanks.

And a college freshman apparently leapt to his death from a New York City bridge after police say his dorm room sex encounters with another man were secretly broadcast on line. Tyler Clementi said goodbye over Facebook, just simply posting " jumping off the GW Bridge, sorry." He was just 18 years old, away at college for less than a month and a body believed to be Clementi was found floating in the Hudson River yesterday. Police are still working to I.D. that body.

Clementi's roommate, Dharun Ravi and another student are charged with invasion of privacy in this case, accused of setting up the web cam and then live streaming what intimate moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was wrong that they would put that on-line or video it at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To hear technology, you know, to see how far you can go with that and easy it is to access that and stream it to a large amount of people, it's unbelievable and it's also pathetic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Rutgers president says all the facts in the case are not out, but he says if the charges are true, the actions violate the university's standards of decency and humanity.

Bullying in our schools and now on-line. Why do kids do it? And what can be done to put an end to it? An "AC 360" special report you don't want to miss, CNN, beginning Monday night at 10:00 Eastern.

All right. Let's take a look at the impact of that heavy wind and rain that's pretty much hammering the East Coast right now. Right, Rob? ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it really is. And you know, this is really hammering a large piece of real estate. From all the way from Florida, which is starting to see things wind down, back through the Carolinas and all the way up to the Canadian border, this is remnants of tropical storm Nicole.

And in some cases it really hasn't looked much better than this. And it's interacting with a storm that's rolling up the East Coast. So those two pieces of energy and all that tropical moisture is just feeding into this system and pounding these people with torrential rain.

Wilmington has seen over 20 inches of rain in the past four days. That is a record since they've been keeping them over 100 years now. And on top of that, we've got tornado issues in this area from North Carolina through the Delmarva and up through the Chesapeake as well. We've got a couple of tornado watches as well across Maryland and (INAUDIBLE) county and Cullvert county, this tornado watch or warning is in effect for the next 20 minutes.

And these cells are moving pretty quickly to the north. If you live in those two counties, just east of D.C., be aware of that and stay indoors. And the other area that's really been getting cluberred this morning is Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach, Norfolk area. And now we have another tornado warning out that includes these cities with this cell that's moving northeast across the Newport News through the Chesapeake. That's in effect for the next 20 minutes as well.

No confirmed reports of these tornadoes touching down, again radar indicated. But there's been a lot of wind in these cells also. Williamsburg, one report of a tree down here and - that fell on top of a car and one person injured there. So this is a dangerous situation that we're going to be dealing with here for a good 12 to 18 hours more.

More rain coming in to Wilmington. It really wants to push off to the east but having a hard time doing that. We have flash flood warnings and watches that are posted, again from North Carolina to the Canadian border here for the next 36 to 48 hours. A very, very heavy rainfall and in some cases flooding rain.

The good news is, once we get through this, Kyra, it will be a pretty nice weekend. Got to get through it first.

PHILLIPS: We got to get there, right? Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Johnson & Johnson CEO William Weldon on Capitol Hill testifying right now about the company's recall of contaminated children's medicines. Weldon did not appear when Congress took up the issue in May. Lawmakers probably going to grill him about the circumstances that led to more than a half dozen over-the-counter drugs that were recalled.

Weldon is expected to announce that the company is going to start shipping some of those recalled children's drugs to stores next week. The products will come from Johnson & Johnson's Canadian affiliate.

Another concern for parents, Fisher-Price announcing a massive recall. We're talking about millions of toys and almost a million high chairs. CNN's Christine Romans in New York with the details. I should say new mom Christine Romans in New York with the details. I hope you don't have this particular high chair or toys?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. And Kyra, I've been scouring these numbers and I know a lot of other parents are too. So let me go right to the news, 10 million different units of products. First of all, a bunch of tricycles, Tough trikes, Fisher-Price products, seven million of these being recalled right now because of risk of serious injury. Kyra, children have been harmed by this. There is a key, a fake ignition key, that can cut and harm, really hurt a child if the child should bump into it when riding they're riding this trike. So immediately stop using this product and contact this company for replacement key.

Also, the inflatable balls, gymnastic set, play mat, variety of these, 2.8 million different ones, go to Fisher-Price or the Consumer Products Safety Commission web site to find out exactly the numbers. There's an inflatable ball on these, Kyra, that has a valve that can come loose and children have been found to be putting these in their mouth.

These are for very small, young children. So choking hazard is a real problem here. Also these high chairs. This is a problem with a little clip on the back of the legs of the high chair, Kyra, that's very sharp. Children have had gashes that have been closed by stitches if they run up against this clip on the back of these high chairs. The clip is to hold the tray in place when you're not using it. This, again, a very serious problem.

They want to pull these immediately, 950,000 of them, and a smaller scale, some of these Little People cars, in particular, the green car and the purple car from Little People, it's a Little People Wheelies Stand N' Play Rampway, a choking hazard. The wheels on the purple and green car can come loose. The government says immediately, Kyra, parents need to find these and take them away from their children because they have a choking hazard here. They do not want children playing with these. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. Any other resource to where they can find out more about the specific toys and high chairs?

ROMANS: You can go to the Matell web site, you can go to the Consumer Products Safety Commission web site. There are a mind numbing number of product numbers and serial numbers that you're going to need to do. But go find the serial number on all of these products, take them away from your children and make sure you make sure you check that your serial number is OK before you allow your children to use them again.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome. PHILLIPS: Coming up more on the death of Tony Curtis. We're going to take a look back at his long and legendary Hollywood career.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: This is a clip from one of the late Tony Curtis' classic movies "Some Like It Hot." You remember Curtis pretended to be a millionaire so he could woo the beautiful, Marilyn Monroe. Check out the earrings. He and Jack Lemmon also were pretending to be women because the mob was chasing after them. Pretty classic stuff.

Well, Tony Curtis has died at the age of 85. He was one of those actors whose career started when he got out of the service after World War II while Hollywood was still in its golden age. He acted alongside legends like Monroe, Lawrence Olivier and Cary Grant and he became quite a legend himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My father taught it to me.

I was wrong about you. You won't really kill your teacher's son.

I came here to fight.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Tony Curtis was one of Hollywood's top box office idols in the '50s and '60s starring in dozen of diverse films from "Spartacus" to the "Boston Strangler."

(MUSIC PLAYING)

PHILLIPS: Curtis showed his comedic ability with a gender- bending role. Other well-known Curtis' films include "Sweet Smell of Success" and "The Defiant Ones." But although Tony Curtis was one of the last of the big-time movie matinee idols, he was more than just an actor. He was a prolific artist.

CURTIS: All my life, I've always taken to a pen or pencil, drawing. I make collages and asemblances ever since I've been a kid.

PHILLIPS: Curtis said he painted nearly every day. He also wrote, publishing novels and his autobiography in 1993, in which he told about the darker and lighter sides of his life.

CURTIS: I'm having a wonderful time in my life. I'm 68 and a half. I'm a rfring alcoholic and drug person. I'm nine and a half years of my recovery. And I feel like Ebenezer Scrooge in "Christmas Carol," you know, after those three nightmares I'm so happy to be alive.

PHILLIPS: Married six times, Curtis was the father of six children, including actress Jamie Lee Curtis. When Tony Curtis was born in New York City in 1925, he was originally named Bernard Schwartz. A name Hollywood was destined to change. A man, destined for a life of fame.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Remember Tony Curtis at the age of 85. Died overnight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories.

Congress has completed its last piece of business before lawmakers return home to hit the campaign trail. The House voted early this morning to fund the federal government for the next two months.

Former President Jimmy Carter could leave a Cleveland hospital today to resume his nationwide book tour. He's being treated for a possible viral infection.

And North Korean leader Kim Jong Il promoted his youngest son to general. He has no leadership experience and is unknown to the world stage.

Actor Michael J. Fox and his battle with - he hid his battle with Parkinsons for a really long time. A matter of fact, as long as he could. And now he's not only open about it, he's crusading for a cure.

Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta sat down with him for a very frank discussion on Parkinson's.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I can tell you for Michael J. Fox it began with a twitch in his pinky finger. Ultimately, as we know now, that led to the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. He has become, sort of a face for this for so many people here in the United States and around the world.

There is so much still that we don't know about Parkinson's. For example, what causes it. Why would it affect the man right around the age of 30? Well, Michael and his foundation, they're trying to address some of these questions and we sat down to talk about that as well as what his life has been like for the last 20 years since he's been diagnosed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: There's a clear period around 1993, '94, two years after diagnosis where I just got it. I just accepted it, and I realized that, you know, that there's a old saying that my happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance and inversely proportional to my expectation. You know, it is about - this is what it is. And so now what?

GUPTA (on camera): Once you were not in denial, you think you were happier?

FOX: Yes, absolutely. Because when you can look at the truth of something, then I mean, that's what it is. It is what it is. Now you have options. The only thing I don't have a choice about is whether I have Parkinson's. Everything else is my choice. That's incredibly liberating, much more liberating than the physical constraints that the disease are limiting.

GUPTA: Are the things that you particularly miss that you can't do? I mean, things you say, "god, I really just wish I could do this still"?

FOX: Truthfully no. I can do everything I did before. Yes. No. I play hockey. I play golf. I play guitar. I paint. If it seriously eliminated or restricted or adversely affected my ability interacting with my kids I think that would be something that would be hard to deal with.

I go back to my reasons for starting this foundation. If you - I use this analogy a lot but it's really - if you step off a curb and get hit by a bus, the impact in your life is immediate, catastrophic. You have no options. It's the effect of whatever happens there.

With Parkinson's it's like you're crossing the road and you get stuck in the middle. And you know the bus is coming. And you can't get out of the way. So you can kind of freak out and go this bus is going to hit me at some point even though you don't know how fast or how big or what - but you can be stuck in that result, that this bus is going to hit you, or you can use the time you have before the bus gets there to change the route. And that's what we try to do. You know, methodically but with a degree of urgency, try to connect the dots and get this done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Kyra, he's a captivating person. It was just a great conversation. And you can watch all of it tonight 8:00 p.m., only on CNN.

PHILLIPS: Sanjay, thanks. And you can hear more from Michael J. Fox on Dr. Sanjay Gupta as he just mentioned tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

All right. Fructose, corn syrup. Well, check your food labels and those four little words that show up everywhere. Critics say it's feeding America's obesity problem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, CNN is taking a cross-country food journey all this week. We've sent reporting teams to every corner of America and beyond. Our mission is to get fresh answers about how our food is grown, how the choices we make impact our health, our state of mind, our budgets and the pure joy of just eating.

We've teamed up with the new cnn.com food destination, eatocracy.com to bring you "Eatocray, Mind, Body and Wallet." And this hour, we're taking a closer look at one of the ingredients that seems to have popped up on all sorts of food labels no matter what grocery store aisle that you're in, high fructose corn syrup. It's sugar. And critics say it's fueling America's obesity problem.

Brianna Keilar hit up the grocery store and the laboratory to find out more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): To look for molasses.

(voice-over): Just walk down the aisles of your grocery store, check out the ingredients on labels, and you'll see the same thing over and over.

(on camera): High fructose corn syrup is the first ingredient.

(voice-over): It's in pancake syrup, cookies, ketchup, jelly, even cereal and soup.

(on camera): Tomato soup, high fructose corn syrup.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the third ingredient after tomato and water. Yes.

So there you go. Some people think tomato it's a vegetable, I'm giving my child, you know, a vegetable serving.

KEILAR (voice-over): Each year Americans consume on average almost 38 pounds of high fructose corn syrup. But not Jessica Haney. This mother of two and the voice behind a blog called Crunchy Chewy Mama has cut the corn based sweetener out of her family's diet.

JESSICA HANEY, BLOGGER: It's not just squeezing out the corn and getting the sugar or something, it's not that you're eating corn. It's not a vegetable. It's a highly industrialized product that has been shown to do lots of yucky things in your body and we just don't need it.

KEILAR: Many Americans are convinced high fructose corn syrup is one of the culprits of the country's obesity epidemic. In a recent study, 57 percent of those polled said it was a top food safety issue. Right up there with artificial growth hormones in milk and mad cow disease. That concern is reflected in the demand for food that's free of high fructose corn syrup. Just check out Pepsi's newest offering. Sierra Mist made with real sugar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNONCER: It's the soda nature would drank if nature drank soda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: For all of the bad buzz around high fructose corn syrup, a number of studies suggest there is no difference how the body responds to it versus plain old sugar. In 2008, the American Medical Association said, "insufficient evidence exists to specifically restrict the use of high fructose corn syrup." But the issue isn't settled. The AMA also encouraged further independent research on the health effects of high fructose corn syrup.

(on camera): We're here at Princeton University because this is where one of the most recent studies -- and a very controversial one, on high fructose corn syrup and how it's different than sugar, was recently conducted. It's a study that involves rats, and it was released just this year.

BART HOEBEL, PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Our studies were conducted in the simulated soft drink. It was high fructose corn syrup in water.

KEILAR (voice-over): Professor Bart Hoebel and his team of researchers gave a second group of rats access to regular sugar dissolved in water. The rats drinking the high fructose corn syrup mixture actually consumed fewer calories than those drinking water sweetened with real sugar. And even so --

(on camera): You found that the rats consuming the high fructose corn syrup got significantly fatter?

HOEBEL: Exactly. And this what is led us to believe that those two are not the same after all.

KEILAR: Critics of high fructose corn syrup point to Hoebel's research as proof that body metabolizes it differently than sugar while some experts criticize the voracity of his findings. Hoebel says more research needs to be done. As to scientific verdict on high fructose corn syrup remains inconclusive, the Corn Refiners Association, which represents producers of the sweeter knows it has a public perception issue, and is trying to rebrand it as "corn sugar."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I learned whether it's corn sugar or cane sugar, your body can't tell the difference. Sugar is sugar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: IN addition to this multimillion-dollar ad campaign, the Corn Refiners Association has petitioned the FDA to use corn sugar on ingredient labels.

AUDRAE ERICKSON, PRESIDENT, CORN REFINERS ASSOCIATION: High fructose corn syrup is simply a sugar made from corn. It is an added sugar in the diet, and this effort to provide clarity to consumers will help them recognize added sugars in the diet.

KEILAR: Many skeptical consumers, like Jessica Haney say high fructose corn syrup by another name is still something she won't be feeding her family.

(on camera): You think the change of the name is very misleading. JESSICA HANEY, DOES NOT BUY PRODUCTS WITH HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP: Oh, yes. I do. We do molasses and honey and maple syrup, things that all have minerals embedded within them and that come with fiber, whereas the fructose corn syrup doesn't.

KEILAR: But it would take a lot of Jessica Haneys to eat away at that startling statistic, 38 pounds of high fructose corn syrup per American per year.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: While some Americans may not be eating healthy, many are hard pressed to eat at all. They go hungry. More than 49 million Americans do not have consistent access to decent food. That's one in six, the highest number since the government began tracking what it called food insecurity over a decade ago.

Celebrity chef Tom , his wife and others are actually documenting families who worry about where their next meal is coming from. Here is what they're working on. It's a documentary called "Hungry in America."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This can happen to anybody. You think it won't happen to you? It might happen to you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm out of food already. You know, I have another week to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And oftentimes those hunger pangs start as a child. We talked to the Top Chef judge about combating that hunger and proving kids with healthy meals in the - improving, rather -- kids with healthier meals in the cafeteria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM COLICCHIO, "TOP CHEF" JUDGE: You send kids to school, and you give them books and a desk. This should be part of learning -- for children to learn part is nourishing them. We did do a challenge on "Top Chef," and what we found out -- for years, you've always heard that kids don't want to eat healthy food. They want pizza and they chicken fingers.

And we found out that if you feed kids really good, healthy nutritious food, they'll eat it. In fact, they were asked for seconds and thirds and fourths. So, just based on -- it's not a scientific study, but just based on the 200 children we fed that day, they'll line up for healthy food.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: "Eatocracy: Mind, Body and Wallet" continues next hour. Remember, CNN.com/eatocracy for more stories on healthy eating. It's also where you can learn more about how to unlock the CNN Healthy Eater badge on Foursquare.

We're trying to match up another seeker with a job in our "30- second pitch." Meet a woman who's 59 years old and can't find work. Her son says he'll take care of her, but she says that's not how it's supposed to be.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Jobless claims down, the economy growing and stocks rallying. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange with some pretty good details today. Hey, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good details, but you know, you have to look beneath, kind of under the headlines because the headlines don't always tell the full story.

Take the job numbers. New claims, they fell by 16,000 last week, Kyra. So, we're moving in the right direction. It shows layoffs are slowing. But you know, there were 453,000 people signing up for jobless benefits for the first time last week, and that's just the people getting added to the list. So, if you count those who are getting those long-term and emergency benefits, the number of people getting those weekly unemployment checks, that totals 9.8 million people. These people rely on these checks to make their mortgage payments, to buy their groceries, and it's not necessarily a lot of money.

Still, it is better than expected. The market seems to like it. Stocks are up. The Dow Industrials higher by 52. The NASDAQ up 10. So, we're having a pretty good day on Wall Street, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, well, that's good news. Now, the recession is over, stocks have done well this month. Why aren't companies hiring?

KOSTIK: Well, it's because economic growth is still very slow, as we all can feel it. You know, we, we still don't know if and when the pace of growth is going to pick up in the economy. Something that companies really want to see.

A survey of CEOs came out this week, Kyra. It showed that there's a growing number of -- who are pessimistic about the future of the economy. They need a clear direction for hiring to rebound.

But there is some good news that I want to leave you with. Analysts are saying the worst of the layoffs are likely over. In fact, case in point, retailers have announced some big hiring plans this week. Macy's, Best Buy, Toys R Us, tens of thousands of temp jobs there. Kohl's also said that it's going to be looking for 3,000 full-time positions. And you've got to remember, even if you get those temporary positions, you can always parlay them into full-time gigs if you show them what you got. Kyra? PHILLIPS: That's true. Alison, thanks so much.

KOSIK: Sure.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's try and reduce the jobless number by one. Bernadine King is going to show us what she's got. She's on the market at the age of 59. It's her second time being jobless. Bernadine, say it's much worse this time. Why?

BERNADINE KING, JOB SEEKER: There are more people out there looking for jobs, and it's just the jobs are just not there. Particularly people in my age group. Younger people are coming out of school who will work for less with less experience. So it's really tough.

PHILLIPS: Now you've actually managed to keep your house, but foreclosures are creeping up on your block, right?

KING: Yes. I have four houses in foreclosure on my block. There's been one short sale and several abandoned houses. So, I feel that, you know, the demon is gradually taking over the whole neighborhood.

PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, within the demons, you have some angels. Tell us about your son. He says he will take care of you, help you out, but you say, wait a minute, that's not how it's supposed to be.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: No. That's just not the way it's supposed to be at all and it really -- he's a wonderful son, he's 27 years old. Model kid, never gave me any problems at all. And now he's in business, started a Chicken Now franchise in Las Vegas, and he's, you know, he's developing his life.

And I just don't want that to happen for him to take care of me, and that's why I'm here today making my pitch to see whatever I can do to make myself marketable and get the word out that BernardineKing@verizon.net needs a job. I need someone to help me.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's get to it. Ready for your 30-second pitch?

KING: I am.

PHILLIPS: Okay. Bernardine, take it away.

KING: I'm Bernardine King, a senior manager with experience in health, social services and government programs on the local and federal levels. I have worked collaboratively with stakeholders for charitable, community-based government and nonprofit organizations for disaster recovery to eradicate homelessness and eliminate hunger. I have managed, supervised and implemented a national federal government outreach campaign for five million people while supervising a multi- language, multiethnic - (BELL RINGS)

KING: -- diverse staff.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

KING: BernardineKing, verizon.net.

PHILLIPS: And let's add, too, incredible mother because she raised a pretty terrific young son. Bernardine King --

KING: Yes.

PHILLIPS; Yes, indeed. At verizon.net. Did you want to add one more thing, I'm sorry?

KING: Yes. I really would like to say that I am mobile, I have -- I'm willing to reinvent myself, and I just don't want to be a statistic. I've been divorced since my son was 15 months old, raised him alone. He finished college, I mortgaged my house to make sure that he had a better life. And at 59 years old, I just never imagined in my wildest dreams I would be in this situation. Something has got to click.

PHILLIPS: And we're going to do everything we can to help you. Bernardine King, thank you so much.

And if you're out of work, and you want to sell youself --

KING: I appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: -- you bet -- you want to sell yourself to prospective employers, just let us know. Send your resume and a letter to "30secondpitch@ CNN.com. Also, if you want to higher a 30-Second Pitcher, go to our blog, CNN.com/kyra. All the info and e-mails will be right there, including Bernadine King.

There's always the Denise Reese Jennings method for finding work. Check out what she's doing. Walking around Detroit's business district with a huge resume, hoping to catch an employer's eye. She says that she tried all the conventional ways of job hunting; none worked. She's been out of work for 18 months. Her jobless benefits had have run out, and she doesn't have enough money to leave Detroit.

We need to book her for a "30-Second Pitch."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories. Hollywood legend Tony Curtis has died at his Nevada home. One of his most famous film, "Some Like It Hot." He passed away at the age of 85.

Fisher-Price recalling millions of toys. The recall includes baby play area with inflatable balls, tricycles and small car toys and high chairs. The company says it received complaints of choking and cuts from the toys. "The Wall Street Journal" reports that McDonald's could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly workers. The restaurant wants the government to waive a new rule of the health care reform act to keep those workers covered.

We've got an update on a story we reported this week about chief of staff Rahm Emanuel leaving the White House to run for Chicago mayor. Sources now telling us that announcement may come tomorrow, or it could slide until next week. Sources say Emanuel hasn't made a final decision about running for mayor, but it's all but certain he's going to make that move.

All right. More on our political news. Deputy political director Paul Steinhauser in Washington. What's crossing the desk, Paul?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You want more? I got more.

(LAUGHTER)

STEINHAUSER: Let's start. Brand-new stuff this morning on the CNN Political Ticker. Let's talk about Sarah Palin. That's right. The former Alaska governor and John McCain's running mate of 2008. We just learned today that she's going to be teaming up with Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele at two fund-raising rallies, as they're being called. One in Anaheim, California, on the Saturday the 16th of October. And one week later,the next Saturday in Orlando, Florida. The idea here to get some big cash for the Republicans in those last two weeks before the election so they can spend the money on Republican candidates.

Interesting, because at one time, Palin and the RNC really didn't see eye to eye. But seems like peace has been made. So, interesting story. We'll keep our eyes on Sarah Palin. Of course, she's been very influential in the Republican primaries.

Let's talk about something else. Brand-new, just went up a few minutes ago on the CNN Political Ticker. And I'm talking about that feud up in Alaska, that Senate battle up there. We have learned the Tea Party Express - that is that Tea Party organization based in Sacramento, California -- they are going to go up with new ads now. Again, take two, new ads against Lisa Murkowski, the senator in Alaska. You remember, back in the primaries, the Tea Party Express spent over half a million dollars helping Joe Miller, a little-known attorney. Helped him beat Murkowski in the primary, but now she is running as a write-in candidate. And they say, The Tea Party Express is going to go up with new ads against her.

She's already up with a new ad in Alaska, which criticizes the Tea Party Express, saying they kind of fooled Alaskans in that they're an out-of-state organization.

And check this out. This is our brand-new poll. CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation in Alaska, this is fascinating. And you can see between Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski, it's basically a dead heat among likely voters in Alaska for the win there, come November 2nd. The Democratic nominee, Sitka (ph) mayor Scott McAdams pretty far back at 22 percent.

But Kyra, I'll just say one thing with this poll. We're coming into unchartered waters here, because remember, Murkowski is in a write-in candidate. So, when you go to the polls on November 2, you actually have to think about it and write her name in. It won't appear on the ballot. So, that's what makes all this stuff really fascinating, Kyra. Back to you.

PHILLIPS; All right. Paul, thanks.

Our next political update in just about an hour. And a reminder, for all the latest political news, you can always just go to our Web site CNNpolitics.com.

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PHILLIPS: Well, Michigan's attorney general seems to agree with what I said yesterday, and that is Assistant AG is a bully. Why? Because that assistant AG is using his blog to slam the openly gay president of the University of Michigan student government. For the past six months, Andrew Shirrvel has accused Chris Armstrong of things like "flagrant sexual promiscuity with another guy in student government," "seducing and influencing a previously conservative male student and turning him into a proponent of the radical homosexual agenda." "Hosting a gay orgy in his dorm room and trying to recruit freshmen to join the homosexual lifestyle." Shirrvel even painted Armstrong as a "gay Nazi," and he isn't apologetic at all. Says he can do it as a private citizen.

Anderson Cooper challenged his boss about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE COX, MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: Certainly it's unbecoming of civil discourse, it's unbecoming of a common courtesy. And, you know, I quite frankly, I feel embarrassed for Mr. Armstrong, that he has this unwanted attention.

But again, Anderson, this is speech put on a blog. Now, if there's conduct that's verified -- for instance, if a personal protection order was sought by Mr. Armstrong and granted, in the Michigan civil service disciplinary code, we could start looking at things in terms of perhaps sending to an employee assistance program.

He is clearly a bully. Absolutely. And is he using the Internet to be a bully? Yes. But is that protected under the First Amendment of the United States constitution? Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, I just think there's something very wrong with a state official beating up on a college kid in a public way like this and harping on his sexuality. With language that's so homophobic and vindictive, you would think an attorney wouldn't use language and images so recklessly. Funny how Michigan's attorney general can't put enough distance between his office and Shirrvell.

And as for Shirrvell, don't you have any cases you should be working on there in the AG office instead of harassing a college student?

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PHILLIPS: Every day at this time, we honor the men and women in uniform who have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan for us. And we call it "Home and Away."

Today, we're lifting up Lance Corporal Colin Joseph Waltz from Manassas, Virginia. He was killed in combat in Anbar Province in Iraq in August of 2006. He was just 19 years old.

Well, Margaret Sharmin (ph) sent us this memory of her friend. "Colin and I met in the summer between seventh and eighth grade. He's one of my best friends. We talked on the phone daily and had countless late night phone calls. We remained close up until he left for Iraq. I know was fighting for a cause he truly believed in. He's my hero, and I love him."

If you've got a loved one you would 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, pull up the profile, send us your thoughts and pictures, and we promise to keep the memory of your hero alive.

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PHILLIPS: Well, tennis has had this reputation of being a game for gentlemen and ladies. But as you know, players like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors sort of shattered that image on the court a long time ago. It now looks like the fans are joining the fight club.

CNN's Jeanne Moos shows us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are tennis balls and there are tennis brawls --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my gosh!

MOOS: -- and his tennis brawl a few weeks ago at the U.S. Open captured from every angle, set off a chain of events that finally resulted in this guy's arrest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll (EXPLETIVE DELETED) talk all I want. Paid my ticket.

MOOS: The fight started after a woman and her 75-year-old dad got mad at New Yorker Joey Petteville (ph) for apparently cursing and talking loudly during the match. They argued. He slapped him.

AUDIENCE: Oh!

MOOS: Joey managed to restrain himself physically but not verbally.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why don't you shut up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- what anyone wants. I got a lot of money on the game, and I'm going to (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

MOOS: This at a sporting event where the most commonly heard F word is usually fault. The argument escalated. Then the dad went after Joey.

AUDIENCE: Oh!

MOOS: The fight ended when security finally arrived. Joey was escorted out. The crowd cheered.

(APPLAUSE)

MOOS: Joey returned the favor with his fingers, and the cell phone videos became YouTube hits.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great. You got to see this video.

MOOS: End of story? Not quite.

(on camera): Well, now Joey Petteville (ph) has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill a neighbor who called him a nut.

(voice-over): To be more exact, this guy's "an insane nut" was the quote the neighbor gave to "The New York Post" after the tennis brawl. We tried to talk to Joey but couldn't find him.

(on camera): The neighbor already had a restraining order out against Joey. The two had been feuding for months.

(voice-over): The insane nut quote got Joey so mad the complaint alleges he called the neighbor "a blanking so-and-so" and said, "You're going to get it. I'm going to kill you."

But what won't die is the video of the brawl. One YouTuber synchronized three different angles.

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MOOS (voice-over): He even added a fourth view when the match halted. As even the players watched the fight, for a gentile sport, this was quite the volley.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's wrong with people? But, you know, I actually enjoyed it. That's the first time I've ever enjoyed the U.S. Open in tennis.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've going to start this on golf now.

MOOS: -- New York.

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PHILLIPS: All right. That does it for us. I'll see you back here tomorrow.

T.J. Holmes in for Tony Harris today -- T.J.