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Former IMF Chief to be Released; Tim Pawlenty to Run for President; Testing Flood Waters; Cell Phone and Brain Tumors; Cell Phone Radiation Investigation: Your Brain Exposed; Eric Cantor Weighs in on Mideast, 2012 Elections; Believers Say World Will End This Saturday
Aired May 20, 2011 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Friday. Live from Studio 7, I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed for May 20th.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is set to swap Rikers Island for his luxury Manhattan apartment. That's happening today. The former head of the International Monetary Fund must remain inside his house and wear an electronic monitor. Strauss-Kahn, who is charged with sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper, must post $1 million bail. He denies any wrongdoing.
The Mississippi -- River, rather, flood claims its first victim. A 69-year-old man drowned in Vicksburg, where the Mississippi is at a historic high. The river is beginning to crest today at Natchez, that's about 70 miles south of Vicksburg. And some people have built levees around their homes, turning them into islands.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you confident you can hold the river back?
HOWARD JONES, PROTECTING HOME FROM FLOOD: Absolutely not. No. I mean I'm confident that it's not going to go over my levees, but I'm not confident that enough of this is going to cave off and I'm going to have a breach. I'd say it's 50-50.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: President Obama is face-to-face with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That is happening right now at the White House. The president wants Israel's 1967 borders to be the starting point for negotiations on a Palestinian state. Netanyahu is said to be furious over the president's proposal.
Shouts of "God is great" peppered with gunfire. Anti-government protests followed Friday prayers in cities across Syria today. Activists and witnesses say that security forces have killed at least 12 protesters today.
And today marks 60 days since the U.S. and other NATO allies launched airstrikes on Libyan forces. The War Powers Resolution requires that the president get congressional approval to continue or U.S. troops have to stand down. The Obama administration has not said how it plans to handle this deadline.
Well, the man who kidnapped and raped Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart will be sentenced next week. Prosecutors want Brian David Mitchell to spend the rest of his life in prison. His lawyers say he should go to a mental facility. Smart, now 23, says she will speak at that sentencing hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH SMART, KIDNAPPING VICTIM: I have forgiven him. I don't think that means that I would invite him over to my house to stay. But that is a part of my life that I lived, have been there, and I have a lot in front of me that I haven't lived yet, so I'm looking forward to the part that I haven't lived yet.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie comeback is now on hold as he focuses on his personal life. Schwarzenegger confirmed this week that he fathered a child outside his marriage. He was set to begin shooting a film based on the novel "Cry Macho" in September. And a fifth terminator movie was also in the works.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This view of Drew Feustel from the helmet cam of Greg Chamitoff.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Two Endeavour astronauts went space walking for six hours today. Check it out, totally cool. Doing chores outside the International Space Station. Well, they've already finished their main task, that is installing a physics experiment that will look at evidence or for evidence of the big bang. Tomorrow is going to be a first. The Pope is going to call the space station.
More details now on today's release of the former International Monetary Fund chief facing sexual assault charges. A judge granted bail for Dominique Strauss-Kahn after he agreed to some pretty strict conditions.
Strauss-Kahn is accused of attacking a hotel housekeeper and yesterday a grand jury indicted him on seven charges, including attempted rape.
On the phone with us is CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
And, Jeff, if you could, tell us about the conditions of Strauss- Kahn's release. It seems that it's a pretty extraordinary development when you think about it.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (via phone): These are very tight restrictions. First of all, there's a million dollars in cash that he's putting up. Plus a $5 million bond, meaning he will promise to pay $5 million if he disappears. He has given up all his travel documents, his French passport, his international passport that he gets as head of the IMF.
And most importantly he will be under home detention. He will have an ankle bracelet that will issue a sound if he doesn't -- if he strays more than a certain distance from it. There will be a 24-hour guard.
These are very strict bail conditions and I think the chance of his fleeing are extremely, extremely remote.
MALVEAUX: So, Jeff, what is the significance of the decision to grant him bail in the first place?
TOOBIN: It's of enormous significance. This trial is not going to happen any time soon. I think six months is a realistic assessment. Spending six months in a New York City apartment with access to your family, eating your own food, sleeping in a comfortable bed, versus living in Rikers Island, to say the contrast is night and day understates it.
It is a much, much better scenario for Strauss-Kahn to do -- to be where he is going to be and that's -- his lawyers won an enormous victory for him today.
MALVEAUX: And Jeff, what about the grand jury indictment, talk about that. What does it say about the case that is being made against him right now?
TOOBIN: Well, it's a very, very serious case. The top felony that he has been charged with could easily result in a lengthy prison sentence. This is a serious violent crime. People do five years for this, people do 10 years for this. Again, we don't know a lot about how this case will play out, but he is in a world of trouble. And, you know, we'll see if the government can prove its case.
MALVEAUX: All right, Jeff, thank you so much.
Jeff is going to be with us the next hour to talk about the possible defense strategies in this particular case.
Here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. What would you do if today the world would end? Come to an end tomorrow?
Carol Costello was talking about doomsday.
Carol, I hope you've got some great weekend plans.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I do. I have great weekend plans.
MALVEAUX: Because it all ends tomorrow. I hope you can have -- go out with a bang. COSTELLO: I'll tell you this, I won't be at work.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: In case you haven't heard the end of the world starts tomorrow. If you believe Christian fundamentalist Harold Camping Saturday, May 21st, will be the beginning of the end of the world.
The 89-year-old Camping and his followers predict worldwide earthquakes followed by the rapture, with 200 million true Christians joining Jesus in the sky. Camping says for the next five months there will be, quote, "a world of horror and chaos beyond description and god will destroy the earth on October 21st." Preacher also predicted the end of times in 1994 and yet we're all still here.
That is also predictable, says the president of the American Atheist, David Silverman. He said, "This weekend we bill giggle at the fools who follow the preachers that earn their living spreading happy lies. Religion will have been proven wrong yet again."
OK, so never mind him and never mind the jokes. Let's really think about this. Some people truly believe in doomsday. They've given up their life savings, their homes, even left their children to spread the word and we're obviously fascinated with the topic.
Hollywood made a movie about it, you know, "2012." There have been dozens of TV documentaries and umpteen articles about it. And let me tell you, if no one was reading or watching you wouldn't see any of that stuff.
Could it be that deep down the thought has actually crossed our minds? Maybe the world will end some day and who's to say when that will be? Which leads us to ponder, what would you do today if the world ended tomorrow?
Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN, I'll read your comments later this hour.
MALVEAUX: And I want your answer -- your answer later this hour.
COSTELLO: I'm still thinking.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: Well, I love this question. All right, thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure.
MALVEAUX: Got some breaking news we want to go to. We're getting some information now, former Minnesota governor Paul -- I mean, Tim Pawlenty, rather, and I want to go to Gloria Borger, who's got a little bit more about what is taking place or going to take place later today?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's going to -- actually he's going to formally announce his candidacy on Monday. MALVEAUX: Monday.
BORGER: He's going to do it in Iowa. This is somebody who's a former governor. He is somebody that we've seen form an exploratory committee a couple of months ago so it's no real surprise. But lots of people are now looking at Tim Pawlenty as a very serious candidate. He's been toiling out there in the vineyards.
We've seen some other candidates like Mike Huckabee drop out. Pawlenty could really be a beneficiary of that. He's an Evangelical Christian. He's somebody who's got a great family story. First person in his family to graduate from college. Known as a fiscal conservative.
So there are lots more Republicans sort of taking a serious look at this governor and saying, you know what, from the state of Minnesota, not too brash, not too out there, just serious, was considered for the vice presidency last time around by John McCain, so you know what? This a serious candidate to officially announce that he is going to be in the race. And we'll see that on Monday.
MALVEAUX: All right. Gloria, anything that he's fighting against? Anything that's just going to be a downfall for him? They all have their downfall.
BORGER: Well, they do, but you know this is -- this is somebody who's been in public life, who has a great public story, and again obviously when you run for the presidency, you never know what the press is going to uncover. But he seems to have a very unblemished career and is somebody that has been quite successful and a fiscal conservative, which is something that really appeals to those Tea Party voters.
So I think you're going to see people give Tim Pawlenty a really serious look. The downside of him is that he's not Mr. Excitement. But you know what, the Republicans have had enough excitement, don't you think?
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: And President Obama hears that a lot, too, as well. So there you go.
BORGER: Exactly. Exactly.
MALVEAUX: Thank you. Thanks very much for the breaking news. We'll be following that very closely.
Thank you, Gloria.
Here is a rundown of some of the stories we're covering the next two hours.
Testing the waster, literally. How it helps determine when floodgates should be opened.
Also behind the wheel of a stolen police car. We're going to show you how this high-speed chase ended.
Plus, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, we're going to ask him what he thinks about President Obama's Middle East speech.
And America's job hunt. We're going to go where those jobs are.
And finally, Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigates a red flag for cell phone users.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If you've ever put a cell phone to your ear, you should listen to what neurosurgeon Dr. Keith Black has to say.
DR. KEITH BLACK, CHAIRMAN, NEUROLOGY, CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: There's no way to say that cell phone use is safe. I think that the public has a right to know that there could be a potential risk.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The Mississippi River flooding is about to hit the three-week mark. Experts warn it's going to take until the middle of next month before floodwaters recede in some of those areas.
Rob Marciano has found that there actually may be some good that comes out of this flooding. Now he takes us along in another boat, this time with government scientists to sample the swamp water.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to be going pretty fast to get you out to the river.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. This is the Intracoastal Waterway.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Cruising the Atchafalaya swamp, it's a spectacular slice of nature where majestic white birds stand guard along the swollen bayous.
(on camera): We're out with the USGS at Atchafalaya basin and we're going to take a couple of measurements. We're going to figure out the stream flow, where the sediments and nutrients are going through the lower basin.
We're not even to the base of the river yet and already this current is ripping through. This should be dry land over here. The river has already come up 12 feet and it's going to come up another 7 feet. That's over my head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. It's 12.5 feet right here. This is normally exposed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, this is normally dry land.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Scientists Charlie Demus (ph) and Dan Crows (ph) are testing the waters. Some of their gear is already submerged.
(on camera): I take it that instrument is not supposed to be totally under water?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. That's pretty much ruined right there.
MARCIANO: They're trying to understand what the river really does during a flood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Temperature, 19.3.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, this one has --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turbidity is 89.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another one of those pressure sensors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) 7.85.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The river is cold enough and the oxygen is high enough that we're hoping what it will do is just flush all that stuff out without losing a whole lot of oxygen in the water.
MARCIANO: Flush bad stuff like invasive algaes, pesticides and debris out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a really unique area. Look at all the cypress around you.
MARCIANO: While feeding in the good stuff with nutrients and sediments.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But this is the kind of thing we want to see happen. We want to see water flowing through these swamps.
MARCIANO (on camera): So if there's a silver lining when we see all these people packing up and having to move out of their houses, nature is benefitting in some way?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nature is benefitting from this, the fish are benefitting from it, the trees are going to get good, and there's probably going to be a little cap of silt put on top of the organic matter so we might see a better dissolved oxygen for the next few years.
MARCIANO: Happy swamp.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A happy swamp. A happy, healthy swamp.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Rob Marciano, CNN, in Louisiana's Atchafalaya basin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: It's been a tense 24 hours for America's relationship with Israel. Today the president is set to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after making clear that he wants to see Israel's border change.
And before you pull out your cell phone again, you may want to hear this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: The type of radiation coming out of your cell phone is called non-ionizing. It's not like an X-ray but more like a very low- powered microwave oven.
BLACK: What microwave radiation does in the most simplistic term is very similar to what happens to your food when you put your food in a microwave oven. It's essentially cooking the brain.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: More and more doctors are sounding alarms about cell phones and brain tumors. But the government and industries say there is no cause for concern.
Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us live with his investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Here are your choices for today's "Choose the News."
First, President Obama may be on the brink of breaking the law. The deadline he is facing today concerning the war in Libya and why representatives from both parties are angered by what he's not doing.
Second, from the infamous hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses to the bow and arrows he used to hunt, personal items from Unabomber Ted Kaczynski are now on the auction block.
We're going to take a look at more of the unique items that are up for sale and hear what people say. Some who say the auction should never even happen in the first place.
And third, it's the Olympic Games for injured U.S. veterans. An uplifting story showing the strength, the determination of our service members as they go for the gold.
So you can vote by texting 22360. Text 1 for president may break law, 2 for Unabomber auction, and 3 for warrior games. Winning story will air in the next hour.
We're now taking a look at live pictures of the White House. We are waiting for President Obama to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is certain to be a tense conversation after the president's address yesterday. Mr. Obama made clear his belief that peace in the Middle East could be reached, but if Israel would agree to a land swap with the Palestinians. And that plan would return Israel's borders to what they looked like before the war there in 1967.
Ali Velshi took a closer look at these hotly disputed boundaries on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING." Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: When the president talks about returning Israel to its pre-1967 borders, let me give you a sense of what he's talking about. Now this might look nice and neat when you look at it like this, until you zoom in on the West Bank where Jewish settlements started cropping up in the 1960s. You can see those little diamonds.
And then more started cropping up in the '70s. And then in the '80s they were supposed to stop after the Oslo 2 agreement in 1995, but they continued growing, as you can see. The red and the orange round circles are all the extra settlements. Those are unauthorized settlements. Three hundred thousand people, Jewish people, have now populated that area outside of Israel's official boundaries.
Then you've also got Jerusalem, which you can see right over there. Well, that -- both Israel and the Palestinians see that as their capital city. That is a point of great contention. It's a city that the Palestinians hope to get some claim to in the two-state vision and it's something that President Obama alluded to in his comments yesterday.
That is certainly going to be a hot button issue in his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel later today.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Mr. Netanyahu immediately rejected President Obama's proposal. Even as the president spoke, the Israeli government was approving plans for the construction of new homes in east Jerusalem.
Well, I recently had a chance to speak to a former president who's been trying to bring peace to the Middle East for more than 30 years. He is Jimmy Carter, and he says that progress is impossible without all parties at the table, and that means including what is considered a terrorist organization, Hamas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Is there something that the Obama administration is not recognizing Hamas that you see in terms of their assurances going forward and recognizing Israel or - and denouncing terror?
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT: Well, we meet with Hamas regularly. Both in Gaza and also the headquarters in Syria. And they have assured us that they would accept a two-state solution that recognizes the existence of Israel, provided the agreement is worked out by the Fatah wing, that is -- of Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas. And if it's approved in a referendum by the Palestinians.
(CROSSTALK)
MALVEAUX: Have they told you they will renounce terrorism as well?
CARTER: They obviously don't admit that they are conducting terrorism because there are a lot more Palestinians killed in the altercations than there are other people. So, no, they don't acknowledge that they are terrorists, of course.
MALVEAUX: Do you believe they are?
CARTER: They commit some terrible acts of violence against civilians and so do other people involved in those altercations in the Middle East.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Stay with us as we continue to monitor all sides of this high-level meeting between the president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We've heard a lot in recent years about a possible link between cell phones, brain tumors and cancer. It is a critical issue since so many of us and our children spend hours every day with our cell phones virtually attached to our ears.
But the government and cell phone industry says don't worry about it, but some doctors and scientists disagree, so we're keeping them honest.
Our CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta conducted his own investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, I'm on my way.
GUPTA (voice-over): If you've ever put a cell phone to your ear, you should listen to what neurosurgeon Dr. Keith Black has to say.
BLACK: There is no way to say that cell phone use is safe. I think that the public has a right to know that there could be a potential risk. The public generally assumes that if one is selling something on the market, that we have had assurances that that device is safe.
GUPTA: To be clear, Dr. Black's message is at odds with headlines from the largest international study on cell phones and cancer. Their conclusion, little or no evidence cell phones are associated with brain tumors.
But if you look just one layer deeper into the appendix of that same study and you'll see something unsettling. It turns out participants in the study who used a cell phone for 10 years or more had double the rate of brainglioma, a type of tumor.
And keep in mind, cell phone use in the United States has only been popular for around 15 years. Back in 1996, there were 34 million cell phone users. Today, nearly 300 million in use according to industry figures.
BLACK: Environmental factors take decades to see their effect, not a few years.
GUPTA: So if it may take decades to get a clearer answer, what can we say about cell phone safety now?
Scientists here in San Jose, California, are trying to answer that very question.
(on camera): So one of the things we have to do first is literally put the brain inside the head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly. It's very light now.
GUPTA (voice-over): The FCC requires all cell phones emit below 1.6 watts per kilogram of radiation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's put some brain to it.
GUPTA: In order to test for that, scientists here try and mimic the human brain, with salt, sugar and water.
(on camera): Let me show you precisely how they do this test. This is a model. This is supposed to approximate the human skull in adult male. This is my phone that we've actually attached there that's connected at the angle that most people would speak with.
And inside over here, very important, this bubbly liquid inside, that's what represents liquid brain.
What's going to happen is the phone is making a call. After a period of time, this device is going to come over here and start to measure radiation at all sorts of different points in the brain.
After that, they're going to take all of those numbers, basically put it on a computer screen and tell us where the hot spots are and just how high the levels got.
(voice-over): My cell phone measured within FCC limits. But the whole process was, well, surprisingly low tech. And what about difference size skulls, or children?
BLACK: In children, their skull is thinner, their scalp is thinner, so the microwave radiation can penetrate deeper into the brain of children and young adults, and their cells are dividing at a much faster rate so the impact of the microwave radiation can be much larger.
GUPTA: But there have been no studies on children and cell phone safety.
(on camera): And here's something else that might surprise you. The cell manufacturers themselves actually advise against putting the cell phone right next to your head or really anywhere on your body.
Take a look, for example, with the iPhone 4. The safety instructions specifically say, "When using the iPhone near your body for voice calls, keep it at least 15 millimeters or five-eighths of an inch away from your body."
What if you're a BlackBerry user, specifically? They also have safety guidelines. In this case, they say, keep it 0.9 inches or 25 millimeters from your body. Meaning our head or really even your pocket.
(voice-over): Dr. Keith Black has been talking about this longer than many, but the voices joining him are becoming louder and more prominent. The city of San Francisco pushed for radiation warning labels on cell phones.
The head of a prominent cancer research institute sent a memo to all employees urging them to limit cell phone use because of possible risk of cancer.
And the European Environmental Agency has pushed for more studies, saying cell phones could be as big a public health risk as smoking, asbestos and leaded gasoline.
(on camera): The federal Communications Commission, the FCC, they set the guidelines for how much radiation a cell phone can emit, and they say cell phones are safe. But how can they be so sure?
Keeping them honest, we decided to come here to try to find out for ourselves, but they declined an on-camera interview.
(voice-over): The type of radiation coming out of your cell phone is called non-ionizing. It's not like an X-ray, but more like a very low-powered microwave oven.
BLACK: What microwave radiation does, in the most simplistic term, is very similar to what happens to your food when you put your food in a microwave oven. It's essentially cooking the brain.
GUPTA: But based on their past statements, the FCC isn't convinced there's a real risk and maintain they, quote, "do not endorse the need for consumers to take any precautions to reduce exposure."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: So the government says no precautions are necessary. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is with us live. He's going to give us his advice and tell us what he does to play it safe with cell phones.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: We're looking at whether cell phones cause cancer. The government and industries say that there is no evidence of that, but the fine print on the cell phone packaging says use carefully, and there's some leading scientists and doctors that say you should be very concerned.
Well, keeping them honest, our CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta conducted his own investigation, and he joins us live.
And good to see you, first of all.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, good to be here.
MALVEAUX: This was a little alarming when I saw this report here, particularly the instance where it says the doctor says potentially this is like a microwave cooking your brain. What do we know?
GUPTA: Well, you know, and that was Dr. Keith Black, who is a brain tumor surgeon. He's been talking about this for some time.
What we know is this is non-ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation, everyone agrees on, that's bad in too much amounts; you know, X-rays and stuff like that. Non-ionizing radiation is more like microwaves and cell phones are like low-powered microwaves.
The concern is that, you know, if you were in a microwave that would be a problem at a high power, but holding a low-powered microwave signal to your head for long periods of time, years, you know, for a lot of people, many minutes a day, what is that doing to the brain? It's not busting DNA like X-rays would do, but it could heat up the brain to some extent and that could cause damage.
That's what Dr. Black's concern is and that what he's raising when he talks about the potential health effects.
MALVEAUX: So are we seeing an increase at all over brain tumors the last 10 or 15 years when cell phone use has really increased? Is there a connection?
GUPTA: It's a harder question to answer than you think, because you have different ebbs and flows of brain tumors based on all sorts of different things.
What Dr. Black says, and again, he does a lot of brain tumor surgery, is that the types of patients he's seeing who have brain tumors is starting to change. Think about who was using cell phones several years ago. They were typically wealthier people, that's who could afford cell phones, people who had jobs that required them to be on the phone a lot. A lot of people in their sort of 30s, 40s, typically men. What Dr. Black has said, he has seen more patients that fit that demographic with brain tumors.
So the numbers are still small. The chance of anyone developing a brain tumor is still going to be small, which is good news, but who is developing the brain tumors, that's what the doctor is sort of pointing at as well.
MALVEAUX: And I've got to call you out here, Sanjay. I know you've got a cell phone, you use it all the time, but we see you with an earpiece. So tell us, is that important?
GUPTA: I've got it right here, in fact.
MALVEAUX: You don't want to be exposed to radiation, what should we do?
GUPTA: Yes, and I've said this to a lot of my friends, I'll tell you as well. In fact, you can have this. But the earpieces I think are -- look, it's easy to lower your risk here.
It's going to be another 10, 20 years before we have more definitive answers. In the meantime you're not asking people to change their world, just put in the earpiece and you can talk on the phone.
Plus, it's safer in many ways. You know, if you're moving around, you can even check your BlackBerry on it, so I'm often doing two things at once. But simply holding the phone away from your body and using an earpiece makes it a lot, a lot safer.
MALVEAUX: All right. Well, I'm keeping this earpiece.
GUPTA: You can have it. It's a gift.
MALVEAUX: I'll call you later.
All right, Sanjay thanks a lot.
GUPTA: Thank you, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Appreciate it.
Sanjay will bring you more details on his in-depth investigation into cell phone safety. I want you to watch in "AC360." Tune in tomorrow for "IS YOUR CELL PHONE REALLY SAFE?" that is 7:30 a.m. Eastern, again at 2:30 p.m. Eastern on "SANJAY GUPTA, MD."
Plus you can also see his special, "PATRICK KENNEDY: COMING CLEAN" that is this Sunday evening 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
Well, the number two Republican in the House is going to join us to talk about some political hot topics. Eric Cantor weighs in on Mideast peace, the 2012 presidential race and much more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: I want to bring in some breaking news here. We have some information, this is coming from the Department of Homeland Security as well as the FBI. They are warning police across the country now that al Qaeda has a continuing interest, what they say, in attacking oil and natural gas targets. That is what the Homeland Security Department is saying.
They have gone on to say that this warning has come as a result of information that they have actually received from that bin Laden raid that happened on May the second. And a Homeland Security spokesman saying, I'm quoting, "We're not aware of any indications of specific or imminent terror attack plotting against oil or natural gas sector overseas or the United States," but they certainly want police to be aware of al Qaeda's interest in these particular sectors.
This is coming directly from Homeland Security and the FBI. We may get additional information from our Pentagon folks, as well.
In our Political Update today, we are talking with a Republican leader about some of the hot issues, from the Middle East to the 2012 presidential race. Joining us live in Studio 7, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
And it's nice to see you outside of Washington. You can loosen the tie a little, you're in Atlanta here.
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), MAJORITY LEADER: Love to.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: Thanks for joining us.
I want to talk about a couple of things, first of all, Middle East peace. We saw the president outline Israeli-Palestinian peace process. One of the things that is making waves here is the idea of the 1967 borders, Israeli-Palestinian borders, as a starting place for negotiations.
Do you agree? Do you think that's a good idea?
CANTOR: I strongly disagree with the president in the notion that somehow the '67 lines should be a starting point for any discussion having to do with the Arab-Israeli conflict.
I think that had prior administration had said all along that the '67 lines really don't reflect realities on the ground, and that's one of the reasons why I disagree with it.
I mean, Suzanne, I also think that the fundamental problem in the Arab-Israeli conflict is that you have parties around Israel that, frankly, refuse to recognize its right to exist as a Jewish state. And until that recognition is there, it's very difficult to see how Israel can accomplish any lasting peace.
MALVEAUX: How do they do that, though? How does the president manage that? We know that you have Benjamin Netanyahu who's meeting with President Obama at the White House today as we speak, and we know that neither side, neither one of them want to recognize Hamas, but certainly the Palestinians have been talking with Hamas, and Egypt, too, is now talking with Hamas. CANTOR: That's why I think the starting point is to make sure that there is security for our ally, Israel. I mean, let's face facts. Israel is on the frontlines of the same ideological struggle that we're on against radical Islam, and that ought to be our focus in our foreign policy mission in the Middle East.
I mean, we have a regime in Iran that continues to say it wants to annihilate our only democratic ally in the region, Israel. We have the same regime in Iran who continues to point to us seeking to do whatever it can to stop America and everything we stand for.
MALVEAUX: So what does the president need to do when he sits down with Netanyahu today? Because, obviously, Israel very concerned that they're on their own in dealing with Iran.
CANTOR: I think the president needs to join a bipartisan majority in Congress and say that the United States security in the region goes hand in hand with Israel's, and that this country of ours is going to stand with our democratic ally, is going to provide the resources necessary for Israel to secure itself while the parties around Israel try and work out somehow how they're going to come to the table and recognize Israel's right to exist.
MALVEAUX: Let's turn to health care if we could, Medicare, because two things that were very interesting that happened this week.
You had Newt Gingrich obviously who's joining in the 2012 race apologizing to Paul Ryan saying that his plan was too radical, but this is something many Republicans had signed off on. At the same time, you had Mitt Romney trying to explain his own previous mandate, health care mandate.
This was an issue for you guys, and it enabled you to win the majority. And now it looks like 2012, it's not really registering.
CANTOR: Well, look, obviously, I disagree with the original characterization by Newt Gingrich of the Ryan plan and what we in the House are focusing on.
And, look, Suzanne, any type of reform to the Medicare program has always been difficult. But the reality is Congressional Budget Office says that the plan is going to go broke if we don't do anything.
MALVEAUX: But how do you get on the same page here? It was a winning issue for you in midterm elections, it doesn't look like you are aligned at all.
CANTOR: The winning issue, I think, in the midterm election was that the country began to see a Republican majority that was actually interested in solving problems and delivering results. So we put a plan on the table to address the fiscal imbalance in Washington and to get our fiscal house in order.
And we also say, you know what, we've got a vision for how we're going to start to grow the country again so we can see small businesses finally begin to create jobs, something that I know that a lot of Americans are waiting for.
MALVEAUX: And real quick because we're running out of time.
You got a favorite for 2012? We know that Pawlenty just entered the race here. Anybody that stands out?
CANTOR: Well, you know, Suzanne, I'm going to dodge that question and say this.
MALVEAUX: Why am I not surprised?
CANTOR: We as House Republicans believe that we can contribute greatly to the debate by setting the agenda in Washington. And typically, it's been that many of our candidates would run from what goes on in Washington. We believe we're putting forth a very common sense prescription for how to take the country forward so we can started to grow again and have a better future.
MALVEAUX: All right, Eric Cantor, great to see you here in Atlanta and obviously, we'll be following al the developments and what you guys are doing out of D.C.
CANTOR: Terrific. Thanks for having me.
MALVEAUX: Thanks.
Well, have you heard? Tomorrow marks the end of the world as we know it. Our Jeanne Moos talks to doomsday believers who say that you have until Saturday, 6:00 p.m. Eastern, to get your affairs in order.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Reminder to vote for today's "Choose the News" winner. You can vote by texting 22630.
Text 1 for president make break law. President Obama facing a deadline today concerning the war in Libya.
Text 2 for Unabomber auction. The infamous items of Ted Kaczynski hitting the auction block.
And text 3 for warrior games. Injured U.S. veterans showing their remarkable resolve by competing in Olympic-style events.
Now the winning story is going to air in the next hour.
Well, a preacher in California believes that the beginning of the end of the world is starting tomorrow. That's right, tomorrow, 6:00 p.m. Eastern to be exact. He is not the only one.
CNN's Jeanne Moos finds out exactly what's supposed to happen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I hate to be judgmental, but when you keep seeing "Judgment day this Saturday," "The end of the world is almost here," it doesn't improve the daily commute.
Here's what's supposed to happen around 6:00 p.m. Eastern time, Saturday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The largest earthquake the world has ever seen. There's going to be no banks, buildings are going to collapse. It is going to be quite awful.
MOSS: Like the disaster movie "2012" arriving early, earthquakes worldwide. Believers will experience rapture, heavenly ascent, while non-believers will stay for a few hellish months until the fiery end of time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ninety-seven percent of the people, god will destroy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe in such (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
MOOS: The generally low-key and polite folks who believe this need tough skin as they hand out their leaflets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, right!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See you this time next year.
MOOS (on camera): And you're convinced, you're absolutely convinced?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, because the bible guarantees it.
MOOS (voice-over): The bible, as interpreted by this California preacher, Harold Camping, head of Family Radio. Lately, he's been getting some flack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My bible warns about false teachers, and buddy, you are one of the worst.
MOOS: Camping miscalculated his last end times prediction for 1994.
(on camera): What happens if on Sunday we're all still here and there's no earthquake and --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there will be an earthquake.
MOOS (voice-over): This retired New York City transit engineer spent $140,000 for subway and bus shelter ads warning of judgment day.
(on camera): That's your life savings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good chunk of it.
MOOS (voice-over): On Saturday, where will Robert Fitzpatrick (ph) be?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As of now, I'm planning to be in Times Square.
MOOS: With media tagging along expecting to see him with egg on his face, or in rapture.
And if those in heaven need someone to take care of the pets they leave behind -- you can arrange with services like After the Rapture Pet Care and Eternal Earthbound Pets to have non-Christians take care of your animals.
One non-believer wants to celebrate "We're still here day" on the 22nd. For some of us, the 21st is problematic.
(on camera): But this is my birthday. To put this on me is just weird.
So if my birthday is on the 21st, what do you recommend I do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pray.
MOOS (voice-over): And maybe celebrate early.
CROWD (singing): Happy doomsday, dear Jeanne, happy doomsday to you.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Oh, my god. Jeanne's celebrating a birthday early!
What would you do if you knew that today -- that the world was ending tomorrow? Carol, with the responses.
COSTELLO: Well, it had to be the "Talk Back" question today, right.
MALVEAUX: Absolutely. I'm throwing a party. You're invited.
COSTELLO: Really?
MALVEAUX: Yes. Tonight.
COSTELLO: Thank you. The last doomsday party, and it will be a blast.
The "Talk Back" question. What would you do if today -- what would you do today if the world ended tomorrow?
This from Matthew, "I would apologize where needed. Ask forgiveness where needed. Let go of the past. Forgive and forget where needed. Remind those that matter to me how much love I have for them. And lastly, have a few delicious frozen cocktails."
This from Jim, "There's some getting even I've been neglecting."
This from Melissa, "I don't think I'd do much different. I'd live my life the way I do every day simply because no man knows the time nor day."
This from Robert, "See the new "Pirates" movie before they sell out."
This from Michael, "I'd play golf, as I usually do on Fridays, but I'd triple the bets and pay them off with IOUs."
This from Angel, "I would sit on Facebook all day and comment on Carol Costello's CNN's posts."
I like that one the best.
Please continue the conversation, Facebook.com/CarolCNN.
MALVEAUX: Carol, I heard you got a number of responses that said I'd have lunch or take Carol Costello out for coffee. Is that right?
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: I heard that was the case.
COSTELLO: That's very nice. Thank you.
MALVEAUX: Some people kind of smitten.
COSTELLO: I love it, too, because it feeds my ego, which could be a dangerous thing.
MALVEAUX: You'll have to tell me what you would do before the day ends.
COSTELLO: I'll have a plan for myself in the noon hour.
MALVEAUX: OK. We'll wait. We're counting down. We only have 12 -- how many hours?
COSTELLO: I know I got to hurry. Bye!
MALVEAUX: Bye!
Even astronauts have a to-do list. We're going to find out what they were up to on a six-hour spacewalk inside the International Space Station.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Mucho Macho Man was the first horse to ride in Baltimore this week to race in tomorrow's Preakness. He's coming off a third place finish at the Kentucky Derby and his trainer had the second-best finish ever for a female trainer. And it's pretty remarkable when you consider what she had to overcome to make horseracing history.
Our CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has today's "Human Factor."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GUPTA (voice-over): Kathy Ritvo's heart was racing during the Kentucky Derby. Well, not her heart, but the one that she received in a transplant two years ago.
Ritvo made it to her first run of the roses as the trainer for Mucho Macho Man, but it was she, not the horse, that was the long shot in this race.
KATHY RITVO, TRAINER, MUCHO MACHO MAN: It would take forever to get over my colds. Any time I got sick, it seemed like, you know, I had to go to the doctors. It just seemed like my system was always weak.
GUPTA: Diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, inflammation of the heart muscle, back in 2001, Ritvo had to stop training horses for nearly six years as her condition deteriorated.
RITVO: Tiredness. I was sick to my stomach. Everything hurt. My feet hurt. My head hurt. I was miserable. I was miserable to be around.
GUPTA: And there was no rest and sleep.
RITVO: I would sleep mostly like with my knees on the floor leaning over the bed just cause I didn't -- it was too uncomfortable to lie flat because I would cough too much cause my heart was not good at all.
GUPTA: She watched the 2008 Kentucky Derby from her hospital bed waiting for a heart transplant. It took nearly seven months, one more of which her doctors didn't think she would survive.
RITVO: It was such a poor quality of life that I was living, and I wanted to stop, you know, what I was doing to my family and either, you know, have a chance of living a good life or, you know, just stopping.
GUPTA: Ritvo left the hospital seven days after her transplant and returned to work six months later. She says while she is extra careful around the dirty barn and unpredictable horses, her only real alteration is taking some 30 pills a day.
RITVO: I am surprised. I'm surprised that I can do everything, you know. I really have a normal life.
GUPTA: A life she hopes others with her condition can see is just bursting out of the starting gate.
RITVO: I hope that they see it and say that not only did I get a heart transplant, but I held on.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
