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Mass Overdose at College Party; Countdown to Election Day; Mine Workers Rescue Imminent
Aired October 10, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: A college party takes a sinister turn after several young women get sick from spiked drinks. The date rape drug is suspected. A live report just ahead.
A child soldier in the Congo witnessing horrific crimes and suffering unspeakable tragedies, makes a daring escape and turns into an American war hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) I want not to live in the past. Enjoy your prison like it was the last day on earth.
KAYE: (INAUDIBLE) goes public with his remarkable life story live this hour.
And then the price of friendship. Sometimes it boils down to $25 an hour. Yes, the details in today's chat room.
Good afternoon. I'm Randi Kaye, in for Fredricka Whitfield today. A troubling story out of central Washington has police in the college of town of Cle Elum investigating a mass overdose. What's so disturbing about this story is that all but one of the overdoses were young women and some of the people who attended the Friday night party say the women were targeted.
CNN's Ted Rowlands is in Cle Elum, Washington where the story is unfolding. And Ted, some of the people at the party say that a date rape drug caused the overdoes. Is there any truth to that? What are police saying?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, police are absolutely convinced, Randy that there was a drug involved and they're not sure at this point which drug whether it was GHB or another similar drug. And they do know that something was put into some drinks at this party. They said they were shocked at what they saw when they went into this house, which was off campus.
They said they saw people in various states of consciousness. There were about 50 people total. All of between 18 and 21 years old and it started as a small gathering where a college freshman brought some friends up to his parents' rental cabin and it exploded from there. People were texting the address of this party, apparently.
It started to get larger and larger and somebody brought something to that party and was, apparently, targeting young women. 12 people were taken to a local hospital, 11 of them were young women. Here's a sampling from some students at the party as to what it was like.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People were having fun and then all of a sudden all the girls were puking everywhere. Girls were outside like on their back and people were so drunk they didn't know what to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So they were (INAUDIBLE). They were falling down and their drinks are going everywhere and we were just picking them up. I carried about four people downstairs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Now police found out about this because they received a call that there was a young woman in the back of a car in a local grocery store parking lot. They went and attended to her and saw what kind of shape she was in and then they asked her friends, you know, what had happened. They traced it back to this house and they went to the house and nobody answered the door.
They actually had to break the front door down to get in and when they went in, they saw all of these kids, basically, milling around. Some of them on the floor. Here's what the police chief said about what happened and the fact that if this would have gone on much longer, he says, some of these kids could have been very, very seriously hurt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF SCOTT FERGUSON, CLE ELUM, WASHINGTON POLICE: No one ever called 911. Had law enforcement not been able to respond to that house to make entry, I would hate to think what could have occurred had there been another 15, 20 minutes that would have passed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: The last of the girls, the victims in this case, Randi, was released from the hospital here this morning. For a while, she was in critical condition, but her condition improved remarkably yesterday and then was released at some point today, we are told. The police, at this point, are trying to gather all of the names of the people at the party. They don't think that the young man who sponsored the party, who had the party at his parents' rental cabin is responsible for this.
They think it's one of those other people that found out about it and that person or those people came with some sort of drug and they're in the process of interviewing everybody and they've sent blood and urine samples to a state crime lab to see exactly what was put into these drinks.
KAYE: All right. Ted Rowlands for us in Cle Elum, Washington, with such a bizarre story. Ted, thanks for following that one for us.
To politics now and the question, where's the enthusiasm? A new poll says Republicans are way ahead of Democrats when it comes to voter enthusiasm but with 23 days left until the midterms, President Obama is on the road trying to change that equation.
CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian is following the president in Philadelphia and, Dan, tell us what is the main thrust or the main accomplishment the DNC and the Obama administration want to get out of today's event there?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously, you just pointed it out with the enthusiasm gap showing that Republicans have the edge there. So, Democrats really want to get the base and in addition to that, independents fired up. These are the folks who help the democrats get into power in 2008, ushered President Obama into office, but many of them had been disappointed that the administration had not been moving quickly enough to do some of things that they promised out on the campaign trail.
The Democratic Party believes that these kind of events, these large events can really get the party faithful fired up. As they are fired up here. Waiting for President Obama who just landed here in Philadelphia. He will be arriving shortly. But, yes, Democratic officials hope that these kinds of events will get the party faithful and those independents fired up again.
This is the second of four events. Recently President Obama was on a college campus in Wisconsin. More than 17,000 young people there, those are the young people who helped President Obama get elected in 2008. This crowd, we see a lot of young people and minorities also and some union members and we see them with their t-shirts on.
The message that they're hearing so far from some of the speakers is to get engaged. To go out and canvas, but more importantly, on election day, show up and vote. Randi.
KAYE: And why, Dan, has the president spent so much time there in Pennsylvania?
LOTHIAN: Well, you know, it's an important battleground state for starters but also Joe Sestak who is the Democratic candidate for the Senate seat here is in a very tight race down by single digits. Very closely, you've seen the president, the vice president and also former president Bill Clinton spending a lot of time on the ground here raising money for that Senate seat.
The reason, obviously, is there's a lot of concern among Democrats that they could lose a number of seats and, potentially, lose the House and the Senate. So, the Democratic Party and the president working very hard to minimize that.
KAYE: All right. Dan Lothian for us following the president in Pennsylvania. Dan, thank you.
And be sure to stay with CNN for live coverage of that event in Philadelphia. President Obama is scheduled to speak at 5:30 Eastern time and we will, of course, bring that to you live. In three more days we could see the first of the trapped Chilean miners brought to safety. Rescuers are aiming for Wednesday. CNN's Karl Penhaul is at the mine near the town of (INAUDIBLE) and, Karl, what is the latest plan at this point?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, if you can see behind me over my shoulder there, there is the golden copper mine and that is where right now some of the cranes there on site are pushing in and 96 yards of steel tubing into the first part of that rescue shaft.
Now, they're doing that just to minimize the chance that any rocks could fall on that rescue cage, the Phoenix capsule as it's bringing the miners back to the surface, one by one. But of course, the question on everybody's lips is when will we see the first miner back on the surface. Well, let's let the mine minister Laurence Golborne answer that for us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURENCE GOLBORNE, CHILEAN MINING MINISTER: Well, the operations should start during Wednesday, that is what we are expecting now and the whole process should take something in the range of 48 hours. I mean, two days from the first rescue to the last rescue guy going out, including the rescuers. I mean, we have to send some people down and, obviously, we have to take them out, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PENHAUL: Now, 12 hours before each of those miners begins emerging into the surface, before they're loaded into the Phoenix capsule, they'll be put on a special diet that has been supplied by NASA. That will be a liquid diet and it will consist of liquid proteins and vitamins.
One of the reasons is because on the way up they expect that Phoenix capsule to gyrate up to 10 times, 360 degrees. They don't want the miners getting nauseous, hence, that special diet. Also, they don't want the miners to get dizzy and faint. So, they're pumping an enriched air supply into that capsule, 40 percent oxygen as opposed to about the 20 percent oxygen supply they're getting right now.
Also, as well, they will be a fiber optic cable in that rescue cage so that there is a video and audio link up. So the miner as he's moving up that rescue shaft can talk to the rescuers on the surface telling them how he feels but also if there are any technical glitches. So he can also feed that back to the rescuers.
But there's another key question that I know, we, as journalists, and a lot of other people have been asking, what is the batting order going to be? Which miner is going to come out first? Which miner is going to come out last. Well, let's go to the health minister Jaime Manalich on that one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAIME MANALICH, CHILEAN HEALTH MINISTER: We began to talk to them regarding the proper order of rescue. And they were fighting against us yesterday because every one of them wanted to be at the end of the line, not at the beginning. But, we'll discuss with them that they there are particular concerns, technical concerns that make easy that some of these more (INAUDIBLE) guys go first, at least four miners and then the more sicker ones in order to provide them with the treatment they need as soon as we could.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PENHAUL: You know, I think that really is testament. He did a sense of camaraderie that has built up down in that mine over the last two months. You know, since this accident, since the cave in happened on August 5th, these men have been involved, make no mistake about it, in a constant life and death struggle. And now each one wants to see that his 32 comrades get back safely before they, themselves, step into that Phoenix capsule. Randi.
KAYE: Amazing, Karl, that they're not fighting to be the first one out given that the 33 of them have been sharing a space, about the size of a college dorm room. That really does say something. Thank you, Karl. Appreciate that.
In Hungary, a warning. Get out of the way. More toxic muck is coming.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: More evacuations in Hungary as authorities warn of another possible toxic wave of toxic sludge. The problem this time, a cracked retaining wall at the same aluminum plant where the first wave of toxic muck came from. Officials say the wall can't be repaired and could collapse at any time. Last week sludge rolled through three villages injuring more than 100 people and killing seven.
And now let's turn it over to Jacqui Jeras who isn't watching the sludge, you're watching the storms, huh?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, things could get a little ugly in the next couple of hours and we're watching this area of low pressure, which is right up there. You can kind of see that little swirl on the map, it's an upper level low across the state of Nebraska. We got a little trailing cold front that goes along with it and we think we're going to start seeing thunderstorms become a little bit more widespread in the next couple of hours.
Some could be strong, possibly reaching severe limits and right now we're focusing in along the i-35 corridor, across parts of Kansas and then down into Oklahoma and we'll likely see some very heavy downpours enough to reduce your visibility if you're heading out for an evening drive at all. So be aware of that and large hail and damaging winds will be the primary threat and will be focusing in here on parts of Texas, as well as Oklahoma.
It does include you in Oklahoma City, so be aware of that. The system will be on the move tomorrow, bringing showers and storms to places like Dallas and down towards the Houston area and finally going to dry out across parts of the pacific northwest and while it was gorgeous in the northeast today, tomorrow those showers are going to be arriving by late in the day.
Take notice of the big red area I put on the map here for tomorrow. That's where temperatures are going to be extremely warm. We're talking 10 to 20 degrees above average. A little lot more like summer than fall. Look at all the 80s out here, even pushing 80 for places like Minneapolis, as well as Chicago.
A gorgeous view of Atlanta at this hour. Not a cloud in the sky. 84 degrees, just four degrees shy of the record. Tomorrow, we might break that record, so, it is warm even by Atlanta standards. And, of course, it's that time of the year where you have the fall foliage going on out there. Randi, I know you love it. If you're heading to Connecticut, go check it out. Well, you're going to start to get in peak conditions about a week from now peeking across parts of interior New England as well as the upper Midwest and parts of the rocky mountains. Randi, enjoy it.
KAYE: I will. You bet I will. Thank you.
JERAS: Sure.
KAYE: Having a baby girl actually could have a negative impact on your marriage. That story coming to you right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Divorce, friendship and a monster-sized meal. All hot topics in today's chat room. Joining me this afternoon CNN's Jacqui Jeras, we're going to get right to it, I guess.
JERAS: Yes.
KAYE: Daughters and divorce. Apparently, there's a new study, tell you about it. Married couples with first-born daughters are more likely to divorce. Three percent higher divorce rate. Now, you have a daughter.
JERAS: I do have a daughter.
KAYE: And you're happily married.
JERAS: I am happily married. But I will say, I hope she's not watching, by the way, husband turn the TV off. She is a little bit more of a challenge than my son.
KAYE: (INAUDIBLE)
JERAS: Yes. But the study doesn't give a reason why that is.
KAYE: No, there is no reason. But it does say, they didn't give a reason for the gender difference but divorced mothers of daughters were also less likely to remarry, stay married than those with sons. I don't know. Something going on there. JERAS: I heard there's some speculation that, you know, fathers like sons better or something like that or men are more, you know, likely to want a son. Well, they say moms want daughters and dads want sons, right?
KAYE: Yes, that's what they say.
JERAS: But women initiate, apparently, 75 percent almost of all divorces.
KAYE: All right. Let's move on to this one. I know we can all relate to this one. This is the ill-fitting clothes. A British study, I love this one. A British study found that the average woman has 12 items of clothing gathering dust in the closet because they don't fit, they are either too big or too small.
JERAS: Who doesn't have their fat pants, right? Or their skinny jeans.
KAYE: I want to get rid of that memory.
JERAS: Your skinny jeans that you're hoping one day that you'll be able to fit into these. Or in Randi Kaye's case, the blazers that you hope will come back in style.
KAYE: I have those long blazers, you know, that you just don't wear anymore and the ones with the big shoulder pads. I hate to, you know, of course, I'd donate it, but I just keep hoping. Holding on. My husband wants to haul it out. But I keep holding on to it.
JERAS: I have some of those, as well. Or I think, you know what, maybe it will make a good Halloween costume, down the line.
KAYE: You need to some to my closet and we need to have a big clean out.
JERAS: The 80s and 90s, 70s.
KAYE: We're not alone, though, if we have the skinny jeans and all that because more than half of women admitted to buying clothes that are actually too small, hoping that they'll fit into them.
JERAS: That I don't think I've done. You've done that?
KAYE: No, I've never done that. I do hold on to them though.
The next one, here you go. If you're looking for, you know, a little companionship, maybe a new friend but you don't want to put in the time. Well, you can actually pay for a friend at rentafriend.com. I loved it. It offers friends for a price. That's right. You go to that web site right there and you put in your zip code. It's kind of like match.com but it's friend.com.
JERAS: But the friendships, of course, has to be platonic. This is not a dating site.
KAYE: Right. Right. It's not a dating site.
JERAS: $10 an hour. That's the starting price. But they say, you know, it's a good thing for people who move to a new city and they don't know anybody and they want to get to know the area. You know, they want -
KAYE: Join a group or something, I mean, would you ever rent a friend?
JERAS: Probably not. I am going to say definitely not. Would you rent a friend?
KAYE: I don't think so, I mean -
JERAS: People get lonely.
KAYE: They say it's a service for while you're traveling or something like that. It just - I don't know. I mean, when I'm traveling, if I don't have a friend in that city, I'm not going to go rent a friend.
JERAS: Randi Kaye is having dinner by herself.
KAYE: You got it. All right. That was a lot of fun. We're also going to tell you about this giant sandwich, but we're not going to have time for that one. We just spent too much time on all that ill- fitting clothing.
So, we are going to tell you what's coming up next, a political ad drawing fire. Coming up, we'll show you why Karl Rove is hopping mad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: A lot of hot political stories to talk about today with just 23 days left until the mid-term elections. CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is part of the best political team on television. Paul, who is out on the campaign trail this week?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Let's start with the former president, Bill Clinton, who, Randi, has become a go-to guy. The man in command for Democrats. Tomorrow, he's going to start his morning in Kentucky. He's going to be campaigning there with the Democratic Senate nominee and then he goes to West Virginia. He teams up with Joe Manchin, a popular governor there in West Virginia who is trying to keep a seat that's been in the Democratic Party hands, a Senate seat in Democratic Party hands for 50 years, trying to keep that within party hands.
And then the president ends the day, Randi, up in upstate New York and he'll be campaigning with a Democratic member of Congress in the House who is trying to hold on to a seat that faces tough re-election. What do all of these three areas have in common? They're all areas with conservative to moderate electorate. Areas that maybe President Barack Obama is not so popular in. Areas where the Democratic candidates would actually rather have the former president than the current president.
And then Randi, later, we're going out to New Mexico and going to be in California at the end of the week and I think, Nevada, as well. A busy schedule for him and you've see a lot of the former president and you're going to see a lot more of him, as well.
KAYE: I'm sure.
We also are focusing on Delaware. I know you have been talking a lot about Delaware and a major week in the Delaware Senate race.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, this is going to be a great showdown on Wednesday night at the University of Delaware. It's the first debate between the Republican nominee Christine O'Donnell who has gotten a lot of attention for some of those controversial things she said back in the 1990s when she was a regular on cable TV.
Of course, she won the primary there over a moderate Republican. She had a lot of backing by the Tea Party express and other organizations and Sarah Palin. She's facing off against Chris Coons. He is a county executive. And that debate will be co-moderated by our own Wolf Blitzer, the anchor, of course, of "The Situation Room."
KAYE: And in Nevada, isn't this week the real first showdown between challenger Sharron Angle and the Senate majority leader Harry Reid?
STEINHAUSER: It sure is. In a race that is so close. Our most recent polls suggested that it was basically a dead heat. This debate can be extremely important. Reid, of course, fighting for his political life. The Senate majority leader with top Democrat in the Senate but polls suggest not so popular back home in Nevada, the state with the highest unemployment level and sky rocketing home foreclosures.
Angle, of course, backed by the Tea Party movement as well, set up some controversial things that the Democrats are trying to highlight. But this race is very tough. This debate could be crucial, crucial to the outcome on November 2nd.
KAYE: And quickly, Paul, I want to touch on this. The former top Bush aid, Karl Rove, upset over this new DNC ad that accuses him of "stealing our democracy." Let's take a quick look at the ad and then you can fill us in on what's happening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie, they're Bush cronies. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, their shields for big business and they're stealing our democracy, spending millions from secret donors to elect Republicans to do their bidding in Congress. It appears they've even taken secret foreign money to influence our elections. It's incredible.
Republicans benefiting from secret foreign money. Tell the Bush crowd and the Chamber of Commerce, stop stealing our democracy. The Democratic National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Karl Rove not happy about that. Tell us why.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, not happy at all. The DNC National committee says they're going to go up with this ad starting on Tuesday and they say it's going to run on national cable television for about a week. Karl Rove responding already saying that they are tossing out these baseless charges. He goes on to say, he was on the Sunday programs earlier today, this is beyond (INAUDIBLE), how dare the president do this. The Chamber of Commerce as well responding, saying that the accusations that they are taking money from foreign donations is not true and that it is baseless.
So, a lot of push back by Republicans. What is his whole argument about it? Well a lot of independent Republican organizations, a lot of independent organizations that are backing the Republicans like the Chamber of Commerce, like American Cross Roads which is a new group that Karl Rove is associated with. They're raising a lot of money and spending a lot of money on Republican candidates and a lot more on the Republican side than the Democratic side.
And because of recent Supreme Court rulings, these organizations are partially classified as nonprofit. They don't have to expose or say where they got the money. The Democrats are attacking on this, this is a new theme for them over the last few weeks and we'll see if it is effective. Right now, it is getting ugly.
Randi.
KAYE: All right. Paul Steinhauser for us breaking it all down. Thank you, Paul.
Here is an important programming note for you. Join Wolf Blitzer and the best political team on television for Wednesday night the Delaware Senate debate our live coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time right here on CNN. Don't miss that.
Much of the nation was shocked by the suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi after video of his sexual encounter with another male was streamed live online. His 18-year-old roommate and another student are now facing charges in Clementi's death, but I wanted to take a closer look at the lives of these two 18-year-old men. How they came together.
Here's what I found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (voice over): Like many universities Rutgers randomly assigns a roommate for each of its new freshmen so it was pure chance Tyler Clementi and Dharun Ravi came to share a room here in Davidson Hall. Clementi shy and modest and Ravi charming and loving attention. But just three weeks later it all crashed down. How much did Ravi and Clementi know about each other when they started sharing a room at college? Likely not much if anything, they grew up about 60 miles apart from each other in New Jersey. Before school Ravi lived here with his family in Plainsboro, an upper middle class suburb about half an hour from the Rutgers campus. Steve Greenstein has lived next door to Ravi's family for more than 6 years. His daughters went to high school with Ravi.
What kind of guy is Ravi? What kind of family did he come from?
STEVE GREENSTEIN, RAVI FAMILY'S NEIGHBOR: Everything I saw and knew over the last 6 1/2 years is that they're an exceptional family, good people, and family people. This would be something that's totally out of character or shocking to me and probably the rest of the neighborhood.
KAYE: You saw him around the neighborhood? What was Ravi like?
GREENSTEIN: Very friendly kid, outgoing. Big Frisbee player. Always outside throwing a Frisbee running across the street over here.
KAYE: Ravi graduated from West Windsor Plainsboro Newark High School. In his senior high school yearbook Dharun Ravi was named best dancer. He was well known for break dancing and he also played ultimate Frisbee. Those who know him tell us he was a good student; some say he led a charmed life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He drove like a BMW. His parents gave him everything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He like was really smart, he took AP classes.
KAYE: When he graduated last spring, Ravi's parents took out an ad in the yearbook. Dear Dharun, it has been a pleasure watching you grow into a caring and responsible person. For Ravi and Clementi college held so much promise.
Clementi grew here in Ridgewood, New Jersey and graduated from Ridgewood High School. In a statement, his family described him as "a fine young man and a distinguished musician." Tyler Clementi excelled at violin. He had been accepted to the prestigious graduated level symphony orchestra at Rutgers.
KYNAN JOHNS, DIR. OF ORCHESTRAS, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: He possessed a technical ability that exceeded some of our undergraduate students.
KAYE: Two 18 year olds very different young men. One introverted and one an extrovert, roommates for only three weeks when the event that would led one of them to take his life began. On September 19, Clementi asked Ravi. If he could have the room alone, he was having a date that night. Ravi gave Clementi the room and then he allegedly went down the hall to fellow student Molly Wei's room and used her computer to stream live video of Clementi's date online.
Authorities say Ravi had set up a web cam in his dorm room to capture his roommate's intimate encounters. A hi-tech peeping tom. But what he saw was Clementi kissing a man. Prosecutors say that on twitter Ravi encouraged others to watch Clementi's date. "Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into Molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay." Two days later authorities say Ravi tried to catch his roommate again. Online he wrote, "Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes, it's happening again." As word spread, Clementi, the dorm room the two shared had become a prison for Tyler Clementi. There was an anonymous posting on the forum, justusboys.com entitled college roommates spying. We don't know if it came from Tyler Clementi but the website said it came from someone at Rutgers. The writer told of a student who had turned on his web cam and tweeted that his roommate had a guy over. If that was Clementi's post he also wrote that he alerted the head of the dorm.
Still, it all became too much for Clementi. On September 22nd, three days after his date was first streamed online, Tyler Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge. Clementi's final posting on his Facebook page read, "Jumping off the G.W. Bridge, sorry."
This student lived next door to Ravi and Clementi.
DANIELLE BURNBAUM, DORM NEIGHBOR: I never saw them fighting or even talking.
KAYE: Strangers turned roommates for just a few weeks now forever linked by tragedy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And be sure to join Anderson Cooper on CNN tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern for his special, "Bullying no Escape." It is a special "AC 360" report in collaboration with "People" Magazine.
Genetic mutations can increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Should you be tested? We are going to talk it over.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Now genetics and cancer. Mutations in two genes named BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been linked to greatly increased risks of breast and ovarian cancer. Last week Fredricka Whitfield spoke with two women who tested positive for the mutations and had surgery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RORI CLARK, CANCER SURVIVOR: How it was everything for me. I watched my mother die a horrible death from ovarian cancer and then shortly after that I watched my sister battle ovarian cancer and she also has the BRCA1 gene and after she was tested and went through eight rounds of chemotherapy I knew that I had to get tested for the BRCA1 gene, as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was actually really pro surgery. Not everyone is, it isn't for everybody. I couldn't live with that anxiety any more. I drove myself crazy. Every year every mammogram and just panic until the next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Dr. Ora Gordon is the coauthor of "Positive Results making the best decisions when you're at high risk for breast or ovarian cancer." And she joins us now from Los Angeles. Doctor good to see you especially nice to have you here on this very important topic that we need to discuss. What is the BRCA gene? Let's start with that and what is the difference between 1 and 2?
DR. ORA GORDON, COAUTHOR, "POSITIVE RESULTS:" BRCA were two genes that were discovered in the 1990s which serve to help protect our DNA from damage. When a copy doesn't work properly, it greatly increases the risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Both BRCA 1and 2 increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer; many fold above that of an average age woman. But BRCA1 tends to occur much earlier and BRCA2 has more cancer risk for men.
KAYE: And who is likely to have this gene?
GORDON: It's very important for one to really have a good understanding of their own family history. The greatest risks are in those women who have had or have a family history of early onset breast cancer before the age of 50, have a personal family history of ovarian cancer, have multiple breast cancer in their family, any male breast cancer and also certain ethnic risks are at elevated risks for carrying one of these genetic changes. Specifically Eastern European Jewish individuals, but their mutations are found everywhere in the world.
KAYE: And you see women who find out that they've tested positive for the gene and then they go ahead and have a double mastectomy. What are the odds that if you do test positive that you will get breast cancer? Is it a certainty?
GORDON: It is critically important, thank you, Randi, for asking that. The predisposition increases your risk anywhere from 50 to 80 percent in your lifetime, but it is not a guarantee that you will get cancer. And you may go your whole life without cancer. So, it's a very unique position to be in to be at elevated risk without a certainty of cancer and having one of these mutations does not mean that you will get cancer. There is really tridence fork of options for women who test positive which range from increased surveillance, preventative medications and preventative vitamins to surgery.
KAYE: But when you hear some of these women that we just heard that had spoken with Fredricka before they can't live without the not knowing and they can't live in fear of waiting to see if they get cancer so I mean is there a better option or another option really that you recommend besides just vitamins or taking care of yourself?
GORDON: Well, preventive surgery is the definitive risk reduction strategy. It reduces your risk to less than 1 percent for getting breast cancer in your lifetime. Many times lower than even the average risk women for getting breast cancer. So, it really is the gold in terms of risk reduction. But it is a big undertaking and it is very dramatic and a personal decision.
So, we offer everyone the range of options and sometimes it's an evolution. The reason why they're called previvers (ph) is because that it's this unique psychologic place to be in. You don't have a cancer diagnosis and yet you're facing these risks and everyone has to make an individual decision.
KAYE: And just quickly for anyone watching if they want to go and get tested, what does the test involve and how quickly can you get the results?
GORDON: The test is very simple. It is a blood test or a cheek swab test and generally it's very strongly recommended that they first meet with genetics professional to get their family history to really understand what the chances of testing positive, what a negative test means. For some high-risk women a negative test does not mean that they're off the hook. For other women, the test doesn't have that much implication or may even have an ambiguous result. But it takes about two weeks and it is available everywhere in the country. The cost of testing ranges from under $1,000 to $4,000 but is covered by insurance.
KAYE: All right, Dr. Ora Gordon, thank you so much for that very valuable information. We appreciate your time today.
Why was an Ohio house candidate wearing a Nazi uniform? His explanation coming up in our political update.
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KAYE: Time now for a CNN equals politics update, which is 23 days left until the all-important mid-term elections. We are keeping a close eye on the CNN.com political ticker. Here's what's crossing right now. The head of the Democrats' effort to stay in control of the House says it's no big deal that some Dems are trying to distance themselves from the president. On CNN State of the Union Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen says it just shows the diversity of the party.
Be sure to check out the CNN 100 where we have identified the 100 most vulnerable house races. Right now there are 86 seats held by Democrats that make our hit list.
An Ohio House hopeful is now defending himself against charges that he is a Nazi enthusiast. Republican Rich Iott admits he took part in World War II reenactments where he portrayed a German soldier but says he doesn't abide by the Nazi ideology. Iott is running against Democrat Marcy Capture who is seeking her 15th term in Congress.
And, of course, for all the latest political news any time, go to CNNpolitics.com.
A former child soldier in the Congo now a war hero in America. His remarkable life journey, just ahead.
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KAYE: In the shadow of freedom, a true story of a seemingly impossible life. A boy born in poverty and the Conga is forced into a militia at the age of 11. He eventually escapes and ends up in the U.S. as a war hero taking part in a heroic rescue mission. Tchicaya Missamou is talking about that unlikely turn of events and his painful past. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
I remember the first time I saw a person being killed in front of me. I was about 11 years old. It was a mother. I couldn't show my pain. I couldn't show I was afraid. If I was not part of them, I would be killed. I want to show you not to leave from the past. There joy presence like it was the last day on earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And Tchicaya joins me now with this very powerful story. We listen to you speak there, how did your survive life as a child soldier? How did you get through it?
TCHICAYA MISSAMOU, AUTHOR, "IN THE SHADOW OF FREEDOM:" First, I want to say thank you for having me on your show. I am honored and grateful to be here. How I survive? Every child in the Congo are warriors. I survived into exercise and talking. The more I talk, I hear. It's about talking. When I was in the Congo, I learned to hold my energy, my stress. When I came to America, they told me, if you talk, you're going to hear. I start talking about the story and now the story is in the book "In the Shadow of Freedom."
KAYE: We're going to get to how you came to America. Let's stay in the Congo for a moment. When you refused to serve in the second wave of civil unrest, what happened to your family?
MISSAMOU: I saw my own mother in front of me. Everybody I talk about it I have tears in my eyes. I saw my dad beat down, torture. Today he's HIV positive. The message I'm trying to send to people of Africa is a message of hope.
KAYE: How did you find hope after all that?
MISSAMOU: Never live in the past. We should always live in the present as it is the last day on earth as we focus on the future.
KAYE: How did you end up escaping?
MISSAMOU: During the Civil War, instead of me killing people I was helping get out of the country. So, when my own family was brutalized and militias came to kill me, I was too scared. Those people that I helped earlier give me a passport, a fake passport so I can get out of the country. It was not easy getting out of the country because my dad gets me out of the country.
KAYE: You got on a plane and they were very willing to take off, were they?
MISSAMOU: I was one of few black people on the plane. I was the only black person. It was an the credible story and I owe a debt to my father to make me the way I am today because my dad once told me as a son, a father should do whatever he can do to make his son successful.
KAYE: Your dad, actually, forced that plane to take off, right?
MISSAMOU: Do whatever in his power to help his son come to a country like America.
KAYE: So, how did you end up, you're in this gorgeous uniform, how did you end up as part of the marines? You weren't even a citizen.
MISSAMOU: The first man I met in my life was a marine. So, when I came to America before I came to America I was in France walking at the fishing company. During my break time I saw a video music Tupac "California Love." So I told myself this is where I need to be, so I came to America as a refugee. I was working in a martial arts studio and I helped one gentleman losing weight. He was a recruiter, before I found it, I found myself in the Marine Corps.
KAYE: So, he inspired you.
MISSAMOU: Yes, pardon me.
KAYE: And then you not only joined the marines but then you went on to take part in one of the most famous rescues ever. Tell us about that.
MISSAMOU: We were patrolling with my squad and during that time we were approached by doctor who taught us there is an American, an American soldier in the hospital that needs help. So, by the time, we're trying to go rescue her, we were ambushed. So we give the information to our commander.
KAYE: We're talking about P.O.W. Jessica Lynch.
MISSAMOU: She is an American and every American deserved to be free.
KAYE: After that, you actually got your citizenship.
MISSAMOU: Yes, ma'am. I am, it was the greatest day of my life.
KAYE: When you became a citizen?
MISSAMOU: Of course. Because America is the greatest country on the planet. American people are the most honest people and, also giving. So, it's my duty to wear this uniform because when I was all over the world, America that was the only country that took me in. They gave me freedom, liberty and education.
KAYE: So you live in California now, you have your own family and you have a successful business, fitness, something to do with fitness, a gym or something.
MISSAMOU: It's called the Warrior Fitness Camp Congo Style. I am incorporating the Congolese because I'm from the Congo; I never forget where I came from. I incorporate the Congo style and American style to help people lose weight.
KAYE: Do you have a favorite exercise?
MISSAMOU: All the exercise --
KAYE: One that all of our viewers might be interested in?
MISSAMOU: Dancing and singing sometimes. There's an exercise that I created called Jimmy Choos, they know what I'm talking about.
KAYE: All right, I like that one very much. Thank you so much and we want to say the name of the book is "In the Shadow of Freedom." It's really fantastic, your story is so inspiring and we're so happy you came in to share it with us.
MISSAMOU: I am honored to be here and looking forward to meeting my best friend, Oprah.
KAYE: Oh, all right. Well, I hope this was a good warm-up act for you.
MISSAMOU: It is.
KAYE: All right. Tchicaya, thank you.
MISSAMOU: Thank you very much.
