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Mississippi River Still Cresting; Hormone Replacement Therapy; Strauss-Kahn Free on Bail; Cain Joins Presidential Race
Aired May 21, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Happening right now in Oklahoma, a manhunt is under way for two men wanted for shooting an off duty sheriff's deputy. Police say the officer was working as a security guard at a restaurant and was walking to a bank when he was shot in the head. The shooting was caught on videotape, which may help police identify the attackers. The deputy is listed in critical condition.
And police in Mexico have arrested the alleged leader of one of the country's most notorious drug rings called the gulf cartel. Police say Gilberto Barragan Balderas operated a drug route between Mexico and the U.S.. I talked to a former DEA agent who says this arrest is a big deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB STRANG, FORMER DEA SPECIAL AGENT (ON THE PHONE): This is major. And you got to remember that this was - this gang was responsible for a large shipment over a long period of time, over 10 years that were coming from Mexico to the United States. You're talking about cocaine, marijuana, also, because they were able to free up the borders and get control over the borders, there was metamphetamine and heroin that crossed those borders as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Barragan was also wanted in the U.S.. The U.S. State Department had offered a $5 million reward for his capture.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is out of jail, released yesterday from Rikers Island after posting $1 million cash bail. A source tells CNN, the former IMF chief is confined to a Manhattan apartment under the watch of a security guard which he's paying for. He faces sex crime charges. A New York hotel employee said Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her last week.
When the river spilled its banks in Yazue County, Mississippi, people there had to choose. Run for high ground or stay put and do what they can to minimize the damage. Some who stayed achieved some pretty impressive feats of engineering. One man said there was just no choice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, when it got to 55.5, we knew we had to do something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this worked. So far, it's holding.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So far, it's holding. We started designing the levy to hold 105 feet, well, you know, and then it was going to be 107. We started we're going to put it as high as the levee at (INAUDIBLE) at 110 feet, and that's what we built this levy, sea level.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. So he did it successfully. Some forecasters are saying the water levels along some parts of the Mississippi won't drop back to below flood stage until next month.
Well not everyone can build their own levee. And today people along the Mississippi delta are still watching water levels. And now it's raining in some areas, making an even muddier mess. The rain comes as the Mississippi was cresting in Nachez, Mississippi at more than 60 feet.
CNN's Brian Todd is in Redwood, Mississippi with more on this. That waist-high water is petty frightening to see.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, Fredricka. The rain didn't help much. It's made officials here a little bit more worried about the flooding which is at crest stage here and holding probably at least through today. We're outside Vicksburg. As you can see the roads here are closed. They're mostly underwater. The flood stage here is holding. We're told at Nachez, as you mentioned, the floods crested at the Mississippi River at about 62 feet, just short of 62 feet. That's about 14 feet above flood stage, and it's still holding. It will probably hold through today in many of these areas.
Also, we came back from a levee that's in some trouble right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): It would be beautiful if it weren't so dangerous. Flood waters of the Mississippi River have engulfed a lake and are threatening this crucial levee. They have caused what officials say a 200-foot slide where the sheer pressure, the weight of the water has saturated the underpinnings of the levee and shifted the earth underneath.
(on camera): We're in the middle of a key brake in the levee right here. You can see where the erosion has caused the slide of at least five feel from that level down here. You can even see the seepage, very slow, it creeps right down here but very dangerous. This is what they're frantically trying to fill the backhoes over here, and a tractor here just trying to shovel gravel to fill the gaps.
(voice-over): It's not technically a breach, but that could happen. So the Army corps of engineers rushed in dozens of dump trucks full of gravel. Crews on back hoes and bulldozers worked 24/7 to shore it up. Peter Nimrod of the Mississippi Levee Board said the stakes are enormous.
(on camera): If this levee fails, what's in the path of the water?
PETER NIMROD, MISSISSIPPI LEVEE BOARD: Well, if this levee would fail, you know, we would have all this water on the riverside, we would inundate the land side, the protected side of the levee. It would be well over a million acres flooded. You would have multiple towns under water. You would have thousands of homes under water. You have, you know, people just displaced from their homes for a long period of time. So It's very important that we pull this levee together.
TODD (voice-over): Alligators and snakes have been pushed up against the levee as well. So if there's a breach, the floods could carry them even closer to residential areas. This isn't just a last line of defense. Deputy Sheriff Jason Bailess says the road on top of the levee is also the only artery they've got to save some residents isolated by the flood.
(on camera): So if this fails, the people in Eagle Lake are cut off.
DEPUTY SHERIFF JASON BAILESS, WARREN COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI: Right, they will be cut off and our only way to get into them would be by boat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Army corps of engineers officials tell us that it will take at least several days to repair that slide in the levee, and even then, the job isn't done. They say they've got to keep eyes on about 212 miles of that particular levee to make sure there's no more see seepage that could prove catastrophic. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: all right. Brian Todd, thanks so much. Appreciate that.
All right. Let's turn to politics now. The platform of Republican presidential candidate is beginning to get a little crowded today. Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza announced his candidacy in Atlanta at a rally. The talk radio host is the fourth Republican to officially jump into the race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Love you. This hour, and this moment, I have looked inside of me and at this moment, this day, amongst thousands and thousands of my friends and with my family here with me and associates that I have known throughout the years, this day, this hour, this moment, I came here to declare my candidacy for the Republican nomination for president of the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The Republican field could expand even more come Monday. That's when former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is expected to announce his candidacy for president. And he's going to Iowa to make the official announcement. That's where the caucus usually kicks off the presidential primary calendar.
Suicide bombers hit a hospital in Afghanistan. People are dead and wounded, and now a claim of responsibility. Full details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A spokesman for the Taliban tells CNN that they planned and bombed a military hospital in Afghanistan today. At least six people were killed. More than two dozens wounded when the bomb wend off inside the country's largest medical facility. It's the same day that a memo from General David Petraeus went public warning NATO troops to expect an increase in so-called high profile attacks in the coming months.
The sharp spike in Taliban attacks since the death of Osama Bin Laden is no coincidence. The groups said they're now operating in his name. Here is CNN's Stan Grant in Islamabad.
STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Taliban has launched a series of attacks since Osama Bin Laden was killed. The latest targeting a convoy of vehicles from the U.S. embassy. There was a car full of explosives and it was detonated as the convoy passed by. At least 11 people were injured, two of the foreigners, all injuries were not serious, although one bystander, a civilian, was killed.
The Taliban is vowing to continue these attacks. They're going after American and NATO targets and they say they're going to finish the job that Osama Bin Laden started.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALI UR REHMAN, TALIBAN COMMANDER: We love his mission which is not dependent on any one man. We loved him because he was courageously fighting against America and its allies. We have to continue his mission because we love his mission more than the man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRANT: The Taliban also warning that Pakistani targets will be high on their list. They say that Pakistan is doing the bidding of the United States, calling the government weak and that they're going to test its resolve. At the same time, the Pakistani government has been fending of claims that it was shielding Osama Bin Laden, that some within the military or the intelligence, perhaps, were colluding with him. This is an old allegation that Pakistan has had to deal with, and it plays a double game.
On the one hand aligning itself with the United States and taking money. While on the other, also having ties to the insurgents. But the interior minister rejects that out of hand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REHMAN MALIK, PAKISTANI INTERIOR MINISTER: We have never hidden him. We are sincere from day one. Maybe we are not as efficient as the U.S., but believe me, my heart breaks when somebody blamed my country, is playing a double game. Do you think, Stan, that we lost 30,000 innocent people? Did we ask Al Qaeda? Did we ask the Taliban to kill us?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRANT: Rehman Malik now saying that the relationship with the United States is turning a corner. He's looking forward to more cooperation, more respect, and intelligence sharing in joint operations.
Stan Grant, CNN, Islamabad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: A special call to the international space station today. Pope Benedict XVI spoke to "Endeavour's" crew. He discussed advancement in science and technology. He also asked mission commander Mark Kelly about his wife's recovery. Arizona lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords is recuperating from recent brain surgery.
So what are the three keys to greatness? Venus Williams, tennis champ, lays them out as we bring you more face-to-face with the tennis star.
And Johnny Depp is back this weekend as Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean IV." He ranked 13th on this year's "Forbes" celebrity 100 list. Here is a look at some other celebrities who also made the list. We'll tell you who is number one in two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: So before the break, we asked if you knew who ranked number one on "Forbes" celebrity 100 list. The answer, Lady Gaga. Oprah Winfrey came in second and Justin Bieber ranked third. Did you guess any of those?
All right. How about this? Jack Sparrow, well, he is back on the big screen this weekend in the fourth installment of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. This time, the flamboyant pirate is in search of the fountain of youth. Why does he need that?
Movie critic Grae Drake with movies.com joins me right now from Los Angeles with today's preview and reviews. All right. So let's start with a clip from "The Pirates of the Caribbean part four."
GRAE DRAKE, MOVIE CRITIC, MOVIES.COM: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Let's let's take a peek.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jack sparrow is hell bent to found the fountain of youth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) the fountain can test you.
JACK SPARROW: Is that really necessary?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Firstly, mermaids, zombies. Blackbeard.
The pirate all pirates fear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I do not make it to the fountain, neither will you.
SPARROW: Arghhh!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh, great. Does Johnny Depp need the fountain of youth? Isn't he ageless? And what about this whole pirates series? Ageless?
DRAKE: Tell me about your pirates theory. What do you mean?
WHITFIELD: Well, I just wonder if this is the stuff that people are just going to continue to love just as they did the first one.
DRAKE: That is a solid question. I tell you what. First of all, this movie, this movie is not as solid as the first one. But it's a huge improvement.
WHITFIELD: Are you getting a delay?
DRAKE: I think we may be. Are we?
WHITFIELD: I think so. There's a big pause. OK. You go ahead. I won't interrupt.
DRAKE: All right. Well, here's the deal. This movie is not as good as the first one, but it's not as horrible as the second two. Now I have spent the last couple years of my life with low self-esteem because I cannot figure out the plot of two Disney movies, and that makes me feel bad about myself.
So the most fun part about this movie is trying to tell Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz apart. I'm just saying.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.
DRAKE: It's fun. But it's not as much fun. So -
WHITFIELD: A little jab there.
DRAKE: So two words for you, however, scary mermaids. Like this movie is pretty much what I imagine if Ariel, the Little Mermaid, was a crack addict and you took her pipe away. They're terrifying.
WHITFIELD: I'm afraid to ask you a grade on this one. But go ahead, you're having fun with it. I'm enjoying it.
DRAKE: You know, I think a lot of people are really going to enjoy it, but I'm still waiting for the high of the first one. So I'm going to give this one a "C" level kind of rating. WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.
DRAKE: See what I did there? It was average. It was fine.
WHITFIELD: All right. What does that say about my pick in movies?
(CROSSTALK)
DRAKE: You know, it was better than the last two. That's all I'm saying.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right. That's enough then. All right. Cool, I thought I was going to be sold on it but maybe not.
"Midnight in Paris." Is this one I want to see? This is about a want to be writer who is smitten with the romanticism of vintage Paris, transported back to the '20s. Let's look at it. Owen Wilson is in it and Rachel McAdams, let's peek. Kathy Bates, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He gets ideas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you so dressed up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was doing a little writing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You dress up and smell better to write.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think better in the shower. I get the positive ions going in there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had a private detective follow him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The detective agency said the detective is missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: OK. All right. You tell me.
DRAKE: I wish that this movie was my boyfriend. I love, love, loved this movie.
WHITFIELD: Oh my god.
DRAKE: Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams are engaged. They don't get along so great. And one night, Owen Wilson is stumbling around Paris drunk, and at the strike of midnight, a 1920s car comes by and the people inside beckon for him to get inside. And when Grae Drake does this on Saturday night in Hollywood, the result is not so great but for Owen Wilson, he steps into a time machine and get to meet artists from the 1920s like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald and Pablo Picasso.
And Woody Allen who has really only made two interesting films in the last 15 years and this one is absolutely phenomenal. A real return to form. Woody Allen at his best, and also Owen Wilson at his best.
WHITFIELD: Nice to se him back, right?
DRAKE: It is. He's in top form, and Marion Cotillard, Oscar winner, is a vision as always. Yes, this movie is truly fantastic.
WHITFIELD: All right. What's your grade?
DRAKE: Grade is an "A" for (INAUDIBLE) I don't know, I don't speak French. I don't know what that means but I just thought it was great. Loved it.
WHITFIELD: That's cute. OK. Well, let's move on to the DVD. Sometimes you don't get a chance to go to the movies so got to bring the movies home. "The Mechanic" is one of them, and "The Rite" another. All right. Between the two which one do you like? Recommend?
DRAKE: Well, "The Mechanic" is a remake of a Charles Bronson movie and I think actually might be better than the original. So I would say that's a solid, solid choice. Action movie, Jason Statham, the bald British Bruce Willis of, you know, he's fantastic.
Ben Foster, terrifying in this movie to the point where I didn't know if I saw him in real life, if I should run away from him or kiss him on the mouth. Not sure. "The Rite" however, god save me from the movie.
WHITFIELD: OK.
DRAKE: F, F, F. Anthony Hopkins chewing scenery could not save this film. There's so many better horror movies about religion than this one. Rent something else for the love of all that is holy. I won't absolve it of all its sins.
WHITFIELD: My producer is saying OK, we should not see that one before the world's ending at 6:00 p.m.?
DRAKE: Absolutely not. Go see something fun that's good, that's going to excite you. Go see "Midnight in Paris," or just go have fun at "Pirates" and you know, watch some sword fighting.
WHITFIELD: And F in English as in flunk, not as F in French as in fantastic.
DRAKE: No. There is fantastic word associated with "The Rite." Absolutely not.
WHITFIELD: You kill me, Grae. I love it. I love your brutal honesty. That's why we love to have you so often. All right. Grae Drake, thanks so much.
DRAKE: See you again.
WHITFIELD: Movies.com. Appreciate it.
All right. So who doesn't fantasize about being a great athlete. Face-to-face with tennis champ Venus Williams, reveals what she believes are the keys to achieving greatness.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (on camera): So if there were three things I would like to ask all my face-to-face interviews, if there were three things that were like the key ingredients to greatness, what would they be?
VENUS WILLIAMS, TENNIS CHAMPION: Oh, my gosh. I think first, you can never undermine hard work. It has to be first. And because you're willing to work hard, you're going to get the confidence that you need to be able to achieve things. And that would be the second one, confidence and self-belief. And what would be the third? The third one, I would say definitely the third, I would describe it as heart. That could be the first, too. Or it could be the third because you might not have a heart, but it's something you can learn.
And in terms of heart, I mean, just being able to give that extra, pull it out of yourself, whatever that is, to get the job done. Whether it's that heart, and you can learn - I think heart is something you can learn.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And you know she's got heart. She showed it in so many different ways. Venus Williams there. In about 20 minutes, we'll be back with more face-to-face with Venus Williams. She'll answer your e-mails. And if you missed any of my face-to-face conversations with Venus Williams, you want to go to my blog, CNN.com/fredricka.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at the top stories. Opening statements are set for Tuesday in the Casey Anthony murder trial. The jury was sworn in yesterday. Anthony is accused of killing her two-year-old daughter back in 2008 and then dumping her body in the woods in the Orlando area. Anthony has pleaded not guilty.
Iranian officials say they busted a spy ring, an American spy ring. They also reportedly arrested dozens of suspected spies and identified more than 40 people they say are CIA operatives. There's no word from anyone in the United States government about these claims from Iran.
The Obama administration is sending an envoy to North Korea for the first time in two years. Robert King is the State Department's special envoy for North Korean human rights. The White House said next week he'll begin a five-day tour to look into the country's need for food. The U.S. cut off aid to North Korea two years ago.
Mid-June, experts say it could take that long for water levels to return to normal in places like Vicksburg, Mississippi. Parts of that city are underwater after the river crested at a record 57 feet earlier this week. And it's still cresting downstream. The flooding started April 30th. The water got so high, the Army Corps of Engineers began opening flood gates a week ago, hoping to spare big cities of New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Jacqui Jeras back with us now in the weather center. Did opening the Morganza Spillway actually help? Did it do what they want it to do?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, it did exactly what they wanted it to do, but it still needs to be monitored because it's not over yet. You mentioned Vicksburg has crested. Well, pretty much all of the major gauges now along the lower Mississippi River Valley have crested or are cresting. So there you can see Vicksburg. It's crested but it's still almost 14 feet above flood stage so we still have a lot of high water here, trying to make its way downstream.
Well, look, we're cresting in Baton Rouge as well as in New Orleans. New Orleans is staying at 17 feet, and that's because they're operating the spillway. They're diverting that water. It's going down through the Atchafalaya, and so, that's why things are steady there. That's a manmade thing because of what they did by opening up the gates.
So, we had record volume of water moving through these areas late last week. The crest has happened. I really think this is the peak. Or it's starting to wane off now.
But we're not out of the woods just yet. Why is that? Well, a couple different things. One of which is that we're still looking at flooding going on into the middle Mississippi River Valley. In Cape Girardeau, you're still above flood stage. So, there's still high water all over the place.
Now, as long as the levees hold, we'll be OK, but that's a lot of pressure.
In addition to that, we're going to be watching for the threat of rain. And, unfortunately, in the next five days, we're talking about three to six inches possible in the middle Mississippi and the Ohio River Valley.
And you remember, the Ohio River dumps into the Mississippi River and eventually makes its way down towards the Gulf of Mexico. At this time, Fredricka, my thinking is, this isn't going to be enough to make the river levels go back up. But it could be enough to keep the river at a higher level for a longer period of time.
So, we'll still have to continue to watch the situation as this goes. You mentioned earlier, you know, through mid-June. So, we still have weeks before the river is back within its banks. And we can go like this and say, OK, we're done from now.
One other sign I just want to mention, June 1, hurricane season begins.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, that's right. JERAS: So, we got to watch out for tropical storms, that they make landfall, they could dump a lot of rain in early June. And that could spill big trouble as well.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. All right. Thanks so much, Jacqui.
JERAS: Sure.
WHITFIELD: All right. Animal Kingdom is a two-on-one favorite -- I'm talking horses now -- to win today's Preakness Stakes, which gets under way less than two hours from now, 06:19 Eastern Time. The 3- year-old colt came from behind the win the Kentucky Derby just two weeks ago, and if Animal Kingdom wins today, the horse will be a trot away from the Triple Crown, but that would be quite an achievement. No horse has won the Triple Crown since 1968.
Hormone replacement therapy and age coming up in two minutes. New information that suggests how old you are when you start treatment may play a major role in whether the benefits outweigh the risks.
Single and loving it. Venus Williams talks about her life off the tennis court, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Spring is traditionally a big selling season for real estate, but the housing market is still in a slump in today's "Smart is the New Rich."
CNN's Christine Romans shows how to sell a home in a buyer's market.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHEN SAINT ONGE, HOME & STYLE DESIGNER: Now, when I drive up to this house, it's a great, classic American house, but it needs some attention. Obviously, the garage is chipping and needs to be painted. Putting -- you know, scraping and putting a fresh coat of paint will really help out with that.
Plantings, cleaning out the leaves, getting a leaf blower and blowing all this out. Cleaning out these flower beds and just cleaning it up with mulch and some simple flour plantings is not going to cost a lot of money. But that focal point of drawing you into the house is really going to be key.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Forget the old adage, "It's what's on the inside that counts." In real estate, it's what on the outside.
SAINT ONGE: You got a great backyard.
ROMANS: Home and style designer and author of "No Place Like Home," Stephen Saint Onge, helps homeowners who wants to sell. He helps them redesign the inside and outside in a buyer's market.
SAINT ONGE: People tend to notice. They notice the things that are not quite as nice looking, like maybe it's a plant that's dying or something like that. So, I would just get a nice, new plant, a flowering plant, and maybe stagger a few out here.
ROMANS: Plants won't break the bank, but a lot of sellers assume they need to make big, expensive renovations to sell their homes. In fact, a quarterly report on remodeling released by Harvard University projects annual growth in remodeling this year at only 0.2 percent.
But the returns on some home improvements can be worth the investment.
(on camera): The best returns in your renovation dollars are things like outdoor improvements -- the front door, for example. Let's say buying and installing a fiberglass front door. It will cost you about $1,000. You'll get back 60 percent when you sell -- 60 percent of your money.
Make it a steel front door, you get back more, 102 percent of your money.
A new garage door, you'll get back nearly 84 percent of your money.
And a new wood deck, that recoups about 73 percent.
All good investments.
(voice-over): And if you can't afford any of these things -- small, outside touches still matter.
SAINT ONGE: So, outside your house, my first impression driving up. You're in a neighborhood. So, people are going to come here, they're going to see front lawn. So, you know, cleaning up the lawn is always key before a showing.
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And if you can swing it, some of the outdoor renovations can really pay off. In fact, they tend to help buyers recoup more than indoor renovations.
All right. Making science fun will take you to a museum in Georgia which lets you learn through touch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, in healthy living news. The benefits, a woman gains from hormone replacement therapy may be based on how old she was when she began the treatment. That's according to a study released just two months ago in the journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Bill Lloyd joins us now from Sacramento, California, to explain what this means for millions of women.
Dr. Lloyd -- so, what can you tell us about the study and its results and how it's being received?
DR. BILL LLOYD, HEALTHY LIVING EXPERT: Fredricka, have you picked up a book you read before and read it a second time, or maybe watch a movie for the second time that you had seen before? In so doing, you make little discoveries like, oh, I didn't see that the first time?
Well, researchers at the Fred Hutchison Cancer Center have done what we call a second-look research study. They looked at all the women from 10 and 20 years ago, looking at the effects of estrogen and the risks for cancer and other health problems.
Here's what they found: they went back and looked at all the women in health reports of over 10,700. Every one of them had a hysterectomy. So, they were taking estrogen after surgical removal of their uterus, and they only got estrogen. They neat part is, they followed these women for 10 years. Now, that's longer than the original women's health initiative.
And here's what they found: they broke the results down by age, Fredricka. And then for younger women, that is women 50 to 60 who had a hysterectomy, lo and behold, they had enormous benefits to their bones from taking the estrogen, and the same thing apply for their heart, far fewer cardiac events.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
LLOYD: And they enjoyed a decreased risk of cancer compared to women who didn't get the estrogen.
Now, the other end of the spectrum -- for women 70 and older, a different story. They didn't enjoy the benefits to their bones and to their heart when they took the estrogen compared to the women who didn't get estrogen, and they had a much higher risk of developing cancer because they were taking those estrogen tablets.
WHITFIELD: Wow, incredible differences. So, now, let's talk about another study, this one focusing on what happens when a woman discontinues hormone replacement therapy.
LLOYD: It's another second look. They went back to the exact same women. So, they didn't create a new study. They went back and followed these women for another 10 years.
Same thing, it broke down by age. We knew that when you stopped taking estrogen, dangerous risk for stroke that all women can experience goes away very quickly after you discontinue the use of the estrogen. But, also, there's a change in your cancer risk. Again, younger women enjoyed a prolonged decreased risk of cancer, even after stopping the estrogen, not the case for women over 70.
For all women, though, they got into trouble with their bones when they stopped taking estrogen. So, all women who discontinue estrogen therapy have to find alternative ways to keep their bones strong with nutritional supplements and medical help.
WHITFIELD: Yet, there are still some arguments that some women who have been using estrogen replacement treatment for a long time do incur some sort of risks and there is a category of women who are at a greatest risk. Who are they?
LLOYD: Exactly, not every woman should be taking estrogen. Here's a list of important considerations you should ask for yourself and your doctor before you think about starting hormone replacement therapy. First of all, what is your own personal risk and family risk for -- history for cancer? If you have a positive history for cancer in your family, give it a second thought. All right?
Also, women with known heart disease or liver disease, women with profound elevations in cholesterol. Any female who's smoking cigarettes should not be near these hormones, and women with a past medical history for blood clots disorders. Again, high risk for stroke, stay away from the estrogen.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Bill Lloyd, always good to see you. Thanks so much. Have a great weekend.
LLOYD: Have a great weekend. Thank you for your time.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you.
All right. Switching gears quite a bit. It's one of the best science museums you've probably never heard of.
CNN's Chad Myers takes us to Cartersville, Georgia, for this CNN travelers insider.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Chad Myers and I'm about to show you one of the coolest places around Atlanta, Georgia, that you've probably never heard of, the Tellus Science Museum.
Behind me, the periodic table of elements. I know you heard about it and forgot about it. But here, you get to look and you get to see what every one of these elements does. Indium, never really heard about it. But what is it and why is there a sprinkler back there?
It's that metal that's in your sprinkler head that melts in a fire and turns the water on, because it has such a low melting point.
Also, very cool gems -- from calcite and quartz and geodes from all over the world and especially here in Georgia.
Something else I love about this museum. There are very few places that you ever see this sign "please touch." Where is the "do not" in there. No, t hey want you to touch right here. Look at that -- that is a huge piece of petrified wood. You can even see the outside. That's really a neat-looking piece right there.
Coming back over here, another piece of petrified wood, all about the earth in this side. This is the mineral and gem side. There are other places, too, in here. Some dinosaurs as well. But if you come over here, you can hit this, it says right here. Hit here. You make your own earthquake. And a couple aftershocks, too. Right there, kind of cool.
Then, you take a look at the world -- the world from the top of the world, where you look down at the Google Earth and some clouds. And then you take a look from the inside. The crust, and the lithosphere, places I've never even heard of, the lower mantel, the outer core, and inner core.
And no trip at a science museum wouldn't be complete for a meteorologist without coming over here and getting to touch a 112- pound meteor.
Chad Myers, CNN, Cartersville, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Chad Myers had way too much fun here.
OK. Here's a question for you: what makes tennis great Venus Williams laugh? The tennis superstar answers your questions, straight ahead.
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WHITFIELD: Tennis great Venus Williams hopes to be back on centre court soon. Her abdominal injury is slow healing, so doctors and trainers have her taking it easy, which means she had time to go "Face to Face" with me at her favorite Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, courts and answer some of your e-mails.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
I like to ask a lot of the viewers what kind of questions they may have for someone "Face to Face." But you know I have some.
VENUS WILLIAMS, TENNIS CHAMPION: I love questions.
WHITFIELD: Yes. And they really are some great questions. Some are amusing. Tanner's dad says --
WILLIAMS: Tanner's dad.
WHITFIELD: Yes, Tanner's dad says, "Venus, what is your real spark, drive, and passion? What makes you tick, and what tickles your funny bone?"
WILLIAMS: My spark, drive, and passion -- I think anything that I can work really, really hard at. Almost kill myself with hard work. All right. Does that sound insane? Think I'm crazy.
WHITFIELD: It's a little crazy.
WILLIAMS: And what tickles my funny bone? Well, I'm willing to laugh at anything, including myself at all times. And I'm not a very serious person, actually, and I'm not very grown up, and it may seem like it. But when you really get to know me, you realize, gosh, she needs another 20 years before she gets to be a real adult.
So, it's an interesting combination. But I laugh at a lot of things. Whatever sparks my funny bone, a big karaoke enthusiast?
WHITFIELD: Are you?
WILLIAMS: Huge.
WHITFIELD: You love karaoke?
WILLIAMS: I love karaoke.
WHITFIELD: Where have you karaoked?
WILLIAMS: I karaoked all over the world. I've karaoked in Asia. I have karaoked in the U.S. I karaoked at home on a daily basis.
WHITFIELD: So, when in Asia, you go to the big -- like it's an apartment building. You go, you know, to sign up for a room. When people see you coming, are they like, is that really Venus Williams getting ready to karaoke here?
WILLIAMS: Once they hear my voice, they fall in love?
WHITFIELD: Really?
WILLIAMS: No.
WHITFIELD: OK.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMS: It's about having fun. It's not about sounding great.
WHITFIELD: Right, right, that's true, that's true. You don't have to be a great singer.
WILLIAMS: And we're a karaoke family.
WHITFIELD: Are you?
WILLIAMS: We are. We all karaoke. And some of us have routines.
WHITFIELD: So, at home, microphones sometimes, someone just improvises and suddenly a karaoke night has happened.
WILLIAMS: The karaoke turns on, it could be anytime of the day, night, morning, we're just singing. After you sing, you feel good.
WHITFIELD: That is certainly something that probably no one knew about.
OK, Barry York is, of course -- we're going to get personal here. He wants to know about your love interests.
WILLIAMS: Well, right now, I'm single. And I like that because when you're single, you don't have to call anybody. You don't have to care about --
WHITFIELD: It's not complicated, is it?
WILLIAMS: It's great. So, you know, right now, it's a great life. I live in a house where everyone is single, and we're all bachelorettes. It's fun.
One day, I'll grow up, maybe.
WHITFIELD: All right. OK. And then ASolomon15 (ph) wants to know what kind of junk food you like to eat?
WILLIAMS: I love junk food.
WHITFIELD: You do?
WILLIAMS: Yes, I do. I love junk food.
WHITFIELD: How can you be a great athlete and still enjoy junk food?
WILLIAMS: The key word is balance.
WHITFIELD: I guess you do burn a lot of calories all the time.
WILLIAMS: Yes, normally, I don't diet. I just try to be balanced with eating good foods and then, sometimes, you have more foods that aren't as good. But not too much.
WHITFIELD: What are your favorite junk foods? You have a favorite?
WILLIAMS: It changes. One thing that I love are the Oreo Cakesters. The vanilla cakesters. They don't last long.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: But don't envision her, you know, reaching into her tennis bag while, you know, on the sidelines reaching for those cakesters. Something tells me she does that on, like, the off court stuff.
So, if you missed any of my "Face to Face" conversations with tennis great, Venus Williams, just go to my blog, CNN.com/Fredricka.
Athletically, they are a power house on the field and on the court. But do you know what high school also has a heavy hitter in its music program? Details right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: So, DeMatha High School in Maryland is well known for its powerhouse sports program. Its student athletes have gone on to play for the NFL and NBA. But the DeMatha music program has produced some big talent as well. And, now, after 41 years, DeMatha's music director is saying his goodbyes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN MITCHELL, DIR. OF BANDS, DEMATHA HIGH SCHOOL: I was actually a student at the University of Maryland, and a music education major. And the principal of the DeMatha High School called, the band director at Maryland at the time, and said, "We want to start a band. Do you have recommendations?" They recommended me. I went over, had an interview that day, and I have been there ever since. That was 1970.
BUDDY PAOLUCCI, DEMATHA BAND MEMBER: A lot of students don't play an instrument going into DeMatha, and he teaches them everything, teaches them the basics and they become to be really great musicians.
MATTHEW MAXWELL, DEMATHA BAND MEMBER: He's constantly pushing us. He doesn't settle. You know, the bar is way above the roof when you start in the band program and it goes even higher as you keep going.
MITCHELL: I enjoy working with the students. I love teaching. I love music. So, it's been the ideal job for me.
PAOLUCCI: Whenever they hear DeMatha, they tend to think sports, they're really good at basketball, football, everything. But we have a fantastic musical program people don't really know that about us. But I think that's what makes DeMatha really great and diverse.
MITCHELL: I think everyone should be involved in the arts in some way. In music, I think, especially. The arts is, really, I think, what makes us human. And it gives us an outlook, a way to express ourselves that we can't really do in any other way.
MAXWELL: Mr. Mitchell is such a pillar at DeMatha. It's going to be hard to see him go.
MITCHELL: The greatest thing is over the years to see the students I worked with for four years go on and continue in music, and a lot of them are professional musicians, professional conductors, and if they're not doing that, I know that their appreciation for music is greater.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Congratulations and all the best. When Mitchell started out, he had just 19 students. Now, there are more than 400 in DeMatha's music program.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Much more of the NEWSROOM right after this, including a huge weekend in Republican presidential politics. The big names and the not-yet big names -- they're all out on the trail today.
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