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Job Market Stalls; Tropical Storm Threatens Louisiana; New Orleans Prepares for Tropical Storm Lee; Americans of all Ages Returning to School; Athlete Competes with One Leg; Libyan-American Doctor Discusses his Imprisonment in Libya

Aired September 02, 2011 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Here we go, it's official, that blob in the Gulf we're now characterizing it officially as a tropical storm and a potentially deadline one as well.

Here you go. You see it sort of back and forth round and around in the Gulf.

Tropical Storm Lee is headed straight for Louisiana. New Orleans, the mayor, Mitch Landrieu, expected to speak again this hour on how his city is bracing for impact. I will also speak to the president of Plaquemines Parish, an area that could get hit hard, see how they're preparing.

We will get to all of that, but first as we head here into the Labor Day weekend with a brutal report on the job market. And it basically has come to a grinding halt. The unemployment rate for August didn't budge an inch. Here you have the number. It is still sitting at 9.1 percent.

And the net number here, that's the important part. The net number of jobs created in August, none, zero, goose egg. Here's how they breaks down. Private employers, they did add 17,000 jobs last month. But do the math. Government eliminated 17,000. So your net change is zero.

And this really is a once-in-a-blue-moon event if you think about it, because the last time the bottom line on jobs was zero was actually all the way back in February of 1945, '45. That's before the baby boomers were even born. The weakest jobs report in almost a year comes amid consumers' wavering confidence in the economy. We have been following that jumpy, volatile stock market.

Also on the heels of the big debt ceiling fight and Washington's credit downgrade. You throw all that together, then you look ahead here. We're less than a week before President Obama reveals his plan to create jobs.

I want you to listen to this. This is Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILDA SOLIS, U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR: Forget the childish play, forget the politics. Let's put people back to work. Let's do some of the things that we know have already paid off, extension of the payroll tax. Infrastructure dollars that will put construction and people in the trades and industry back to work and also help to extend support for those long-term unemployed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That is the labor secretary.

I want to play you, though, or actually read just a couple of these quotes. These are a quick sampling of some Republican presidential candidates' reaction to the jobs report today, the net zero number.

Texas Governor Rick Perry calling it -- quote -- "a stark contrast to Texas' pro-jobs, limited government policies," which he says helped make Texas the top job producing state.

Here's another one. This one is from Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney calls the report -- quote -- "further proof President Obama has failed."

And one more. Herman Cain calls it -- quote -- "fitting for an administration led by a president with zero leadership, zero plans, zero results, and a zero understanding of basic economics."

Let's bring in Rick Newman, the chief business correspondent for "U.S. News & World Report."

Rick, good to have you back.

Jobs report, does it surprise you here?

RICK NEWMAN, CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": It's not surprising.

I think it basically shows that employers in July were almost in a state of paralysis when it came to their payrolls. And I don't think that's surprising at all.

You mentioned the debt ceiling fiasco we had in July. I mean, just to go back to that time, we need to remember that the politicians in Washington or at least some of them were threatening the whole world economy with a default on American debt. And businesspeople understood how serious that was, even though they understood that there was a posturing involved in that. They understood that that would be an intentionally serious and an intentionally negative event if it were to happen.

And they basically did nothing. Who would expand their payrolls in the face of a potential disaster like that unless you had to? What we saw in the immediate aftermath of that was consumer confidence plunged, business leader -- business confidence plunged. And we're seeing the result of that in the report that just came out this morning.

BALDWIN: And the issue, too, when you talk about confidence, employers need to be hiring. But also let's remember just yesterday when many people were making much ado about the dustup over the president's jobs speech schedule, when would he be speaking in a joint session of Congress, would it be Wednesday, would it be Thursday, what about the Republicans, what about football?

Do you envision any change in the political environment that might give employers any confidence to say, yes, I will hire?

NEWMAN: It's possible. But, no, there are no signs that anything like that is happening.

Here's something that's really striking to me. Economic forecasting firms are now telling their clients, which includes a lot of the biggest companies in America, look, you -- basically you need to now consider the U.S. government as kind of a net drag on the U.S. economy and you need to prepare for further policy mistakes.

And they're even highlighting some of the dates that are coming up on the future calendar, such as November and December, when this super committee needs to come up with its plan for another $1.5 trillion worth of debt reduction. Forecasters are now looking at these points in the future where we could go through something similar to the debt fiasco from the summer all over again.

So, you know, in economic-speak, these are called the risk of policy mistakes and things like that. But it means that companies are sitting there and saying, look, if Washington might mess this up even more, and I'm not getting much additional demand for my products, why would I go out and hire people if I may have to turn around and fire them again in a couple of months?

You know, Washington could surprise us and maybe do something that looks a little more responsible than we have become used to. But so far we're just not seeing signs of that.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: They could. We didn't see signs of it perhaps in July. Maybe, maybe we will in November.

But, Rick, let me replay some of the comments again, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, then and I will have a question for you on the other side.

NEWMAN: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOLIS: Forget the childish play, forget the politics. Let's put people back to work. Let's do some of the things that we know have already paid off, extension of the payroll tax. Infrastructure dollars that will put construction and people in the trades and industry back to work and also help to extend support for those long- term unemployed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Even she called it childish play.

But let me just rattle this off again, Rick. Extending payroll tax, money for infrastructure, help for people who have been out of work for a long time. We have heard this before multiple times. I know the White House is pretty tight-lipped as to what specifically the president will outline when he speaks to Congress next Thursday night.

But some on the left, they want him to go big in terms of policies, changes, et cetera, to help get jobs created. Can you give me examples of how big he could go?

NEWMAN: It sounds like he's going to propose something that would be called an infrastructure bank, which would be a combination of public and private money.

The government doesn't have to spend all that much money. We're probably going to hear -- we could hear something that Republicans would like to hear or a few things they'd like to hear, such as maybe tax breaks for companies that hire, different kinds of tax breaks. And we saw it today. President Obama decided to postpone a big new regulation that businesses said would have cost them a lot of money, something in the billions.

I think if President Obama tosses in some things that Republicans would like to see, which would include some sorts of regulatory relief for instance, he might get better cooperation than he's had up to now on some of the things that conservatives want, such as more infrastructure spending and things like that.

But as you pointed out, we're already arguing about the schedule of the speech, which most Americans couldn't care less about. And if this is what happens the minute that President Obama stops speaking is they just start arguing about all this stuff, nobody will gain any confidence from any of these proposals.

BALDWIN: Yes, that may not be a great sign. Since I do have you here, Rick Newman, I do want to ask you about the report -- I'm sure you read it -- out of "The New York Times" this morning that the federal government plans to sue several big banks, major banks, over the mortgage meltdown.

And we know these are the same banks that remember the government deemed them too big to fail? Will this mean money goes back to the taxpayer ultimately?

(CROSSTALK)

NEWMAN: It's a perplexing situation, because these are all the big Wall Street banks that Washington saved in 2008 with the big TARP bailouts. It's almost as if they said, well, we're going to save the banks now so that when they're a little bit healthier we can sue them and get some of the money back that we think Fannie and Freddie have lost.

I think Fannie and Freddie have to do that because they do operate -- or they did anyway -- operate as -- sort of as private companies that lost a lot of money, which has required these huge taxpayer bailouts when so many mortgages went bad.

But it's extremely complex. And if anything comes of it, maybe it will end up being some sort of settlement where the government gets back enough money to say, well, we got something for our trouble but we haven't ruined the whole banking sector that we just bailed out a few years ago. And maybe they sort of wipe their hands of it and that's the end.

BALDWIN: So maybe, maybe not.

(CROSSTALK)

NEWMAN: It's certainly going to be interesting until that happens.

BALDWIN: OK.

NEWMAN: If they were to go after those big banks the way that it might happen in the private sector, they'd probably be asking for an amount of money that might -- certainly would threaten the health of the banks and could even threaten the existence of some of the really troubled ones, such as Bank of America.

BALDWIN: We will watch it. We know you will, Rick Newman.

Thank you very much, our friend at "U.S. News & World Report."

NEWMAN: Yes. Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Quick reminder. We mentioned this. President Obama, he lays out his job growth plan next week, next Thursday night before that joint session of Congress. And of course, we're getting our A- team assembled for you. CNN's special live coverage begins Thursday night 6:00 Eastern followed by the president's address at 7:00 p.m. Eastern again next Thursday night.

And next, take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU (D), NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: There's high wind, there's a lot of rain and it's going slow. That's not a good prescription for the city of New Orleans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Not a good prescription at all, because newly formed Tropical Storm Lee is headed towards New Orleans. In fact, the entire -- you see the radar there -- the entire Louisiana Gulf Coast is now in the danger zone. The state's governor has already declared a state of emergency. Now so has Mississippi's governor. Lee is expected to dump just about a foot of water in that area.

Coming up next, I will speak to the president of Plaquemines Parish, Billy Nungesser. He's part of a town that could be hit especially hard. Hear what his neighbors are doing right now to stave off a flooding disaster.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here at CNN, we're watching now Tropical Storm Lee in the Gulf of Mexico. Take a look at Lee here on the weather map.

The states of Louisiana, also Mississippi have already declared states of emergency. Lee is slowly, slowly drifting there in the Gulf. Where it eventually lands, that is still to be determined. But parts of the northern parts of the Gulf Coast there could get hit with 10 or more information inches of rain.

Just over an hour ago, Louisiana's governor told folks who live there to prepare for the worst.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANDRIEU: This is going to be a slow-moving storm. It's going to bring a lot of rain. Primary risks to Louisiana will involve the fact that a combination of the rising tides, tidal surge, as well as a saturation of a slow-moving storm bringing as much as 10 to 15 inches of rain in some areas, maybe even 20 inches in very isolated areas, will lead and can lead to flash flooding in certain areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So in anticipation of this storm, oil workers are leaving their Gulf rigs, if they can fly out safely, of course. Then they're shutting down the wells. And at least two of Louisiana parishes announced voluntary evacuations this afternoon.

On the plus side, this fire in the New Orleans area, the marsh may not be burning much longer. Earlier in the week, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu declared an emergency over that.

Governor Jindal also announced the state of Louisiana is shutting down the state's oyster grounds until the storm is over.

Let me bring in Billy Nungesser. He's the president of Plaquemines Parish, one of the country's largest seafood providers.

And to be entirely transparent here, we should also tell you Mr. Nungesser is running for lieutenant governor of Louisiana.

So, Billy Nungesser, I know you have been watching those weather forecasts quite closely. What are your concerns? BILLY NUNGESSER, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LOUISIANA: Well, our concerns are, with 15, 20 inches of rain projected, that this rain sits over one area, populated area for any length of time, we will see severe flooding. We're hoping we get breaks in between these bands to give the pumps a chance to catch up.

That's our main concern, as well as the levees that have been authorized by Congress, but the Corps has not started construction on, 3.5-feet levees that we're expecting to be very close to being overtopped in the middle of Plaquemines Parish.

BALDWIN: What about the levees, not those that are being designed right now, the ones that are already there?

Are you concerned? How concerned are you when it comes to potential storm surge?

NUNGESSER: Well, we have had those levees, we saw breach and then during the oil spill, those levees were topped twice with just small thunderstorms. So we're very concerned about those levees, both in the construction and the overtopping.

And each year for the last several years, the Corps has pushed back construction to start on those levees. And once again this year, we're flood-fighting where federal levees should be.

BALDWIN: Let me also just be transparent about this. We're getting mixed signals when it comes to this storm. First you hear from the governor of your state, the mayor of New Orleans. They're saying, they're telling people there to be ready for the worst.

But we made multiple phone calls this morning to our affiliates, our TV affiliates in New Orleans and they said we're not quite mobilizing all our crews just yet to cover this thing.

Where do you sit on that?

NUNGESSER: Well, the rain event could cause severe flooding. And we need to be prepared for that.

BALDWIN: OK.

NUNGESSER: Plaquemines Parish sticks 100 miles out in the Gulf. We have got to be prepared for those weak levees, because it would trap half the people in the south end and we have to be prepared to evacuate those people if those levees overtop.

We have been out all night and will be out all night again tonight monitoring those levees. And we will call for an evacuation if we believe we're going to have a problem.

BALDWIN: At what point might you make that call?

NUNGESSER: Well, either late this evening after we look at the latest forecast and the condition of the levees or first thing tomorrow morning, we will make a call. BALDWIN: As we are going into a holiday weekend, I know this affects a lot of people. We will be waiting to see if you make the call.

And as you said, the rain and potential flooding, that's the biggest worry for many of you.

Billy Nungesser out of Plaquemines Parish, thank you very much, sir. I appreciate it.

And as we talked about that storm, let's not forget Katia. This is what the latest hurricane looks like way up in space, thanks to the NASA TV. Katia had lost some of its strength for a while, dropped out of the hurricane category, actually. But it's now regained power as it's churning around through the Atlantic and is now once again categorized as a Category 1 hurricane.

Katia is expected to strengthen over this weekend. It will still be a couple of days before we know if Katia will in fact make landfall in the U.S. or simply blow off to the north. We're keeping an eye on Katia as well for you.

The last thing the East Coast needs is another hurricane. Vermont, you know that very well, they're still cleaning up after Tropical Storm Irene dumped massive amounts of water on that state. Volunteers have now started distributing food and clothing donations throughout the state. Dozens of searchers are still looking for a Vermont man believed to have been swept away by the flooding there in Vermont.

Down south to North Carolina, the Outer Banks area, the governor today announcing plans to get traffic rolling again on state Highway 12. Remember, there were multiple breaches in that one way in, one way out to Ocracoke and Hatteras islands. The plan includes a temporary bridge that could get traffic moving they're hoping in less than a month.

And really all up and down the East Coast, just about a half million customers still don't have power. It may be days before electricity is restored. President Obama as we have been reporting this week, will be visiting some of the hardest-hit areas of New Jersey. He will make that trip on Sunday. And the president did talk about Irene earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So our response continues. But I'm going to make sure that FEMA and other agencies are doing everything in their power to help people on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Meantime, it's a surfer's paradise in California right now. You would know that if you were in Southern California.

Check this out. Some unusually crazy waves hit the West Coast. But these monster waves are attracting more than just surfers. Have you seen this picture? Look really closely. Get up close. It's got everyone talking out there. We will tell you why -- yikes -- coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You know who could really use some rain these days? Texas. But in spite of Tropical Storm Lee brewing there in the Gulf of Mexico, it doesn't look quite promising for you Texans, right now, 14 big wildfires burning in the state. And one of them is just about 100 miles west of Dallas. It's in this lake community and dozens of vacation homes have now burned. Firefighters there are finally though making some progress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IRA MERCER, PALO PINTO COUNTY SHERIFF: Hand crews are able to work on some mop-up today. I'm told that containment is estimated at 50 percent at this point.

STEVE GREEN, FIREFIGHTER: We can do all the work by air that we want. But as my instructors told me a long time ago, it's always boots on the ground that gets it taken care of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So from that now to a strong earthquake hitting off the coast of southwest Alaska. It's a 6.8-magnitude quake. It hit just about 120 miles east-southeast, if you know Atka, Alaska, in the Aleutian Islands. Not many folks actually live there. But the quake briefly did trigger a tsunami warning, but that was later canceled.

There are no immediate reports of any damage or injuries there.

Now, I want you to look at what happens in Southern California, where there's a big storm all the way near Australia. Look at this. As my producers would like me to say, those are some sick waves.

You guys happy now?

Dwarfing the usual surf found off Southern California. Just take a look at these surfers. I will just stop talking. Wipeout right at the base of the wave there. The storm is hitting Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand.

But there in Southern California, it's creating a surfer's paradise with waves up to 11 feet high, higher-than-normal surf expected through the weekend.

But before you try to get too excited, I just actually was out trying to surf last weekend, learned what hang 10 really means. Possible shark sightings in San Diego have closed several beaches three times just in the past week. And now there is a dispute over this picture. It was taken in Encinitas -- it's just north of La Jolla -- just two days ago. Here's the picture. And you can see what it shows. Let's zoom in. It shows what looks like a giant shark swimming among this group of surfers. You can really see how close the surfers get when you see the wider picture. It was taken by Gary Elliot as he walking along the beach Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY ELLIOT, TOOK PHOTOGRAPH: I mean, it looks pretty clear to me that there's a big sea creature right there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Sea creature, sea monster, pick your noun. But wait. The claim was initially disregarded by lifeguards on that very beach that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looked to me like it was a surfer paddling through a wave. When they duck-dive, they lift their leg up and it looks very much like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Hmm. I'm looking. I'm thinking not so much. Lots of surfers, but could that large black blob with what looks like a fin -- Doesn't that look like a fin to you? -- be just another surfer? What would the experts say?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In my opinion, we're looking at the tail end of an animal that is headed out away from the beach that's probably in the three- to four-meter range, about 10 to 12 feet, maybe a little more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Not something I would want to get too close to. The waves of Southern California right now are among the best of the year. So maybe this is the takeaway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TATE KIM, SURFER: It's pretty crazy. But I was just thinking that there's a lot of people out here. So I didn't really care too much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, how about this one? A Florida teen actually bitten by a shark is out of the hospital today. Shane Lancaster says he was in knee-deep water south of St. Augustine earlier this when a six-foot shark bit him on the leg. He said it felt like someone punched him in his left leg. When Lancaster, who is a surfer looked down, his leg was covered in blood. And that's when he says he saw the shark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANE LANCASTER, BITTEN BY SHARK: I said, hey, listen, don't freak out, all right, but I got attacked by a shark. It was like somebody has just taken a bunch of little pins and just poked them into my leg in like sort of symmetrical formation. But I knew it was a shark.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Yes, I don't like it when people start sentences, don't freak out, but.

It's unclear what type of shark bit him. He says he doesn't mind the bite too much now that he's healing. No big deal.

It's a big deal.

When we come back, a field of green as far as the eye can see. How the New Mexico Park Service stumbled upon one of the largest marijuana farms ever seen.

Plus, Casey Anthony, she is out of jail, but she may soon be out of a lot of cash as well, $560,000 to be precise. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Keeping an eye, as always, here on the stock market, as we're just about half-an-hour away from the closing bell. Today's weak government report on jobs has rattled investigators (sic).

The job market was essentially flat in the month of August, with the number of new jobs added to the private sector equal to the number of jobs eliminated by government.

So looking at the Big Board, we're down quite a bit today, triple digits, the Dow down 253 points, investors reacting there, clearly. Again, we're close to the opening (sic) bell, half-an-hour away. And that's a look at that.

Next here, Florida looking for payback, as in payback from Casey Anthony. Prosecutors in Orlando want Anthony to reimburse the state more than half-a-million dollars. That's the cost of the investigation into the death of her daughter, Caylee, and Anthony's subsequent trial. Anthony was acquitted of murder charges back in July. She has been in seclusion since then. Her lawyers admit she lied to investigators, and they're fighting that reimbursement motion.

A fundraiser in Arizona causes some big-time controversy. The Pima County Republican Party is raffling off a handgun to raise money. Now, they are located in the very district represented by Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who not even eight months ago was the victim of a mass shooting.

The gun being raffled is the same make as the one allegedly used in that January shooting. Local Democrats say the raffle will upset the community. Republicans say it's a longstanding tradition.

And take a look at what officials found deep in a New Mexico forest. Look at that, 5,000, at least 5,000 pot plants. This is the largest marijuana plantation the state has ever seen, so big, in fact, the National Guard has been called in to check for booby traps before destroying the plants. The crews surveying damage from a huge fire in the area made that discovery.

And when we come back, the incredible story behind one man's journey back home to West Virginia. A Libyan American doctor who traveled to his native land to help those fighting Moammar Gadhafi, but what happened to him while he was there changed everything. Kidnapped, bound, blindfolded and held for prisoner for more than five months. Dr. Rida Mazagri joins me next on his remarkable story back home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to remind you we are, again, awaiting the mayor of New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, to update his city about emergency operations planned with regard to tropical storm Lee. Lee is out there churning now in the gulf of Mexico and possibly could deliver 10 or more inches of rain to coastal Louisiana in that entire area. Quickly, the states of Louisiana, Mississippi both declaring states of emergency. We're monitoring that.

Also, you know the saying, if you can't beat them, join them, right? Many older Americans are taking that sentiment to a new level nowadays. Faced with a weak job market and younger fresher competition, some see one path left, leading back to the classroom. Sara Endo reports, in depth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke in this economy, the student mix on college campuses is changing. Now older students in their 30s and 40s and even into 60s are coming back to crack open the books.

STEVEN GUERRERO, RETURNING TO COLLEGE: Let's start getting some breakfast going.

ENDO: Getting ready for school is a routine the Guerrero family has down to a science.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go.

ENDO: All three girls with backpacks ready to go. Their dad, 44-year-old Steven Guerrero, is the oldest student in the household.

GUERRERO: The family that goes to school together --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, perfect.

ENDO: The headlines usually mention the poor economy, one that hit Mr. Guerrero hard. After more than 20 years in the real estate business, he was laid off in 2008. This year he decided to go back to school to get an executive MBA, hoping to improve future job prospects.

(On camera) What has been the most challenging part about coming back to school?

GUERRERO: Well, certainly been getting acclimated to the classroom and to the workload. It's pretty intimidated coming back to school after so many years.

ENDO (voice-over): With an intimidating price tag to match. His degree at Claremont Graduate University will cost him $87,000 after two years.

GUERRERO: One may say it's risky. I don't see it as risky. I think it's calculated action. What it does guarantee me is that it positions me for the future opportunities that will come about or an opportunity for me to do my own thing.

ENDO (on camera): The math has to make sense, especially for older workers considering returning to school. The calculation is simple. Does a new degree, student debt, and future earnings all add up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got all the knowledge in your head.

ENDO (voice-over): It's an equation that made sense for 49-year- old attorney Robert Bates. His firm was suffering in this economy. So he returned to college and is earning his teaching credentials.

(on camera) Did you ever think that at 40 or 49 you would be going back to school?

ROBERT BATES, RETURNING TO COLLEGE: If you had asked me that question five years ago, I would have said no. But I'm glad I made the decision I did.

ENDO (voice-over): Well, it's a tough decision. One out of every four college students is 30 or older. Education experts say if retirement isn't a priority the payoff is usually worth it.

JACOB ADAMS, PROVOST, CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: One of the clearest relationships in the data that we see is between the level of education and the earning capacity of individuals once they get out. It's just stepped up from high school all the way through the doctorate level.

ENDO: A track record the Guerreros are counting on.

The harsh reality for many of the older students, they say retirement is now even farther down the road. Brooke?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Sandra, thank you for that in-depth report.

And when we come back, the incredible story behind this man's journey finally back home to West Virginia. A Libyan-American doctor traveled to his native land, hadn't been there in more than two decades, to help those fighting Moammar Gadhafi. But what happened there quite possibly is now changed his life. We'll share his stories of kidnapping, being, blindfolded, held as prisoner more than five months. Dr. Rida Mazagri joins me next live from West Virginia on his remarkable story back home.

But first this -- here is Dr. Sanjay Gupta with this week's "Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: On a hot Los Angeles day, you'll find Scout Bassett outside her on the roof of her apartment building logging miles on her bike. She's a dedicated multisport athlete. Take a closer look. Scout has run marathons and raced triathlon, all with one leg.

SCOUT BASSETT, CHALLENGED ATHLETE: This has been very good to me and done a lot of long miles.

GUPTA: Scout lost her leg when she was a baby. It was the beginning of a difficult childhood.

BASSETT: I was burned in a fire in China. And when I turned one-year-old, I was placed on the streets in front of the government orphanage. When I came here to the U.S., I was seven years old and weighed 22 pounds.

GUPTA: Scout had never left her orphanage before being adopted. Overnight, she found herself with a new family in a new country surrounded by strangers and unable to speak any English.

BASSETT: Everybody is just looking at you, wanting to know what's going on, who you are, where you come from. And I mean, I'm like, I'm not even sure what's happening to me. How am I supposed to explain that to you?

GUPTA: Exercise became a refuge. She saw another pair of athletes race a triathlon with the challenged athletes foundation.

BASSETT: Being able to see that changed my life forever. Seeing what was possible out there.

GUPTA: She started to race triathlons herself, swimming without any artificial leg because it would weigh her down. Switching into a leg with a foot made into a bike cleat and another leg for the end of the race.

BASSETT: Race by race, training day by training day, I started to gain this confidence that I really had lacked for much of my life, and became this person who really believed in myself for the first time.

GUPTA: And she has no plans of slowing down. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: As promised, let's just dip in and take a listen to New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu.

REP. MITCH LANDRIEU, (D) NEW ORLEANS: -- homes outside of the levee protection in the Venetian Isles Mishu (ph) area. You have to take extra precaution. There are some wind surge and storm surge projections of about 4.5 feet. The folks know exactly what those are. Most of those homes are up in the air. But it's worth taking extra precautions, and we'll be in communication with you and you should be with us about what steps you should take.

All of our public safety units are fully staffed and are prepared. Sixty-eight boats are ready to go across four agencies. We have swift water teams on standby in the fire department and EMS if the need arises. Barricades are positioned and will be deployed in the -- to the extent we have flooded areas. And we're staging our boats to respond to low-lying areas near canals.

Let me speak to this issue for a moment. In some areas of the city which are low-lying, if we have a lot of water in a short period of time and all of the sites on the Web site, sometimes water on streets can look a lot like the canal he next door to it. I would again caution New Orleanians when you see standing water, should it be relatively high, do not drive into it. It is a mistake. You may find yourself in a very, very difficult situation that would cause us to call off the swift team.

Again, use common sense. If there is standing water, please don't try to drive through it.

And 311 is available 24/7. Residents can get updated information and report problems. You will be directed to the appropriate agency if they are not the right one. I should stress here that citizens are our eyes and ears. It's very helpful if you see a stoplight out to report it. If you see any other problems on a flooded street, please report it. That would help us again communicate more effectively with emergency responders and it can be very helpful.

If in fact, you see a traffic light out, call 911. We want to get on that immediately. If there's an electrical problem, we want to put out stop signs to be able to control that particular intersection.

As it relates to public works, we have contractors on standby for road repair and debris removal. We have trucks out that are cleaning catch basins right now. I would encourage citizens to be proactive. If you have one in front of your house, please go out and clear that. We're going to need it.

We have staff on standby to install temporary stop signs for traffic lights had they go out. We're ready to go on that. Park and parkways and sanitation equipment is staged and is ready to clear roadways should the need arise. Now, on this note, sanitation will continue to pick up this weekend as is regularly schedule.

But, again, common sense is needed here and I was not going to say this. But I will anyway. If it's flooding on your street, don't put your garbage out. The garbage trucks will not go down flooded streets. Of course if the streets are not flooded, then we will be there and we'll be back to pick up the garbage a little bit later.

We're in communication with all of the hospitals and the nursing homes in the city. Homeless shelters to the extent that they're need are adding extra bed capacity as we speak. All capital construction projects ongoing as part of the recovery for the city of New Orleans have been halted at this time until further notice. All libraries have been closed as of 1:00 p.m. today until further notice. All activities have been canceled for the weekend.

Airport is completely operational at this point. They will continue to monitor the air flow and the wind traffic and at some point in time may make another decision, but --

BALDWIN: Mayor Landrieu essentially rattling all the different ways his city is prepared as tropical storm Lee is a brewing there in the Gulf of Mexico. Talking about the levees, will the storm surge, how will they fare with the storm surge. This weekend could see ten- plus inches of rain. They don't know. They're making preparations just in case. States of emergency declared in his state of Louisiana, also in neighboring Mississippi. We'll have a little bit more on that. What you can expect through the holiday weekend.

But coming up next, it's a story we've been wanting to tell you of a neurosurgeon born and raised in Tripoli. He went over to Libya to essentially take part in history. But what happened to him in the month after, we'll let him tell his story after the break.

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BALDWIN: OK, to tell this story, I want to take you back to last March. Do you remember this? These were the early days of the war against Moammar Gadhafi. This was one of the first glimpses we actually finally got of the rebels who now have driven Gadhafi out of power.

Now, if you would, have a look at our guest. He's a Libyan-born American surgeon Dr. Rida Mazagri. From his home in West Virginia Dr. Mazagri watched Libyans rise up in revolution and felt compelled to go join them.

And here's where the doctor ended up -- prison. And not just any prison, but Abu Salim, Libya's most notorious. He was there for five months. And he endured a series of beatings at the hands of Gadhafi's henchmen. Last Friday, one week ago today, we aired these pictures, the liberation of Abu Salim. Here he is just two days ago, three days ago, Wednesday, returning same and sound to his home in West Virginia.

Dr. Mazagri, thank you very much for joining me here on CNN. I read you grew up in Tripoli. You left more than two decades ago. What compelled you, sir, to return, to join in the revolution?

DR. RIDA MAZAGRI, RECENTLY RELEASED FROM LIBYAN PRISON: Thank you for having me. One piece of correction, I was born in Tunisia and grew up in Libya.

Before the revolution, the uprising started in Libya, it started in Tunisia, and I was very happy for the Tunisians to regain their power of democracy, followed by Egypt. And we thought that Libya is going to follow and going to be as peaceful as the other two countries. Unfortunate, it didn't happen that way, and when the uprising started in the western part as well as the major eastern part of the country, we see on the internet the killing and some horror picture on the internet with people split in half shot by anti-craft bullets.

And because of the shortage and the need for medical help, I decided to go and help. From medical point of view as a physician that having lived in Libya, I know Gadhafi regime and all the oppression, I thought I would like to be a part.

BALDWIN: So you knew, doctor, you had the tools, you knew you could help. This is where you lived for many years -- forgive me -- this is where you lived for many years and you wanted to help. But tell me the story how -- also, where were you when you were captured? What were you doing?

MAZAGRI: We went with the rebel to the frontline and unfortunate, we had to retreat because of Gadhafi's armies coming back. And we have to retreat from different city, which is about 150 kilometer west of Benghazi. And unfortunately again, we had to withdraw because the armies bombarding on the city. And that's March 15. We heard that the city was taken by Gadhafi. We called to the area and decided the following morning to go back to the hospital. And from unfortunate, the following morning, it's already taken and we walked to the army not knowing the city had already been taken.

BALDWIN: So were you ambushed?

MAZAGRI: I get caught march 16 in the eastern gate of the city towards the hospital.

BALDWIN: You were ambushed? It was Gadhafi troops, correct me if I'm wrong, Gadhafi troops that grabbed you and threw you in a series of prisons?

MAZAGRI: That's correct. They caught myself and a colleague of mine, a cardiologist in a private car. And then they transferred us to a city about a six-hour drive to that area.

BALDWIN: So you're thrown in multiple prisons. Can you tell me about your experiences? Is it an understatement to say you were you abused? Beaten? What did they do for you?

MAZAGRI: Combination physical abuse as well as verbal abuse. Just because I'm coming from the state and the, according to their view, you're coming at the wrong time and you are in support of the rebel so you are most probably anti-Gadhafi. And the things which they really stressed on multiple interrogation, who sent you? You are an American coming here. What's in your mind and who's behind you?

BALDWIN: How are you, physically? Have you recovered from what they did?

MAZAGRI: The beating, it hurt at the time, but I don't think it left any long-term scar in me. I believe -- it hurt at the time where they are beating me, but later on, I think it's -- I'm fine.

BALDWIN: Tell me about this notorious prison, this Abu Salim?

MAZAGRI: It's huge. It's I think two and a half acres. It's a huge building. We couldn't see the detail of the prison till the day when we are released. So you go in, your eyes are covered so you don't know where you are, which direction is. They kept moving us from one cell to another. The condition is bad, especially the first few weeks where the beating was the maximum the first two weeks of my imprisonment. And obviously --

BALDWIN: What were they telling you, doctor, while they were beating you, after they were beating you, that you would be there forever? What were you thinking at the time? You're a father of four. You have family back in America.

MAZAGRI: They don't liberate a lot. One of the guys from Sirte told me I feel sorry for you, doctor coming from the state. I think most probably you're going to be either death penalty or life in prison. That's in Sirte. In Tripoli, the guards don't liberate, except they calling us traitors, rats, which is a common statement among them, they call us rats. And they are very vulgar in their speech, a lot of obscenity.

BALDWIN: Given everything you went through, was it worth going over to help? And would you go back?

MAZAGRI: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Absolutely, it was worth it and absolutely you would go back to Libya?

MAZAGRI: Definitely. I mean, as I told you from the start, there's two components of my going, one from physician point of view and I would like to help. Second is I would like to be a part of the revolution and would like to get rid of the Gadhafi regime as anybody in Libya.

BALDWIN: Dr. Rida Mazagri live for us now, finally home in West Virginia. Sir, thank you so much for sharing your story.

MAZAGRI: Thank you, ma'am.

BALDWIN: Coming up at the top of the hour, did you hear and see what comedian Katt Williams said, specifically what he did in this standup show. If you haven't, stay tuned. We have the video coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)