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Iran Threatens Oil Shipping Lane; Obama Set to Raise Federal Debt Ceiling; A Fire Burns Down Connecticut House; The Year In Tech; Pure Painkiller; Three Miners Trapped In Tennessee; Six Days Until Iowa Caucuses

Aired December 28, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Isha Sesay. Let's catch you up on everything making news this hour, "Rapid Fire." Let's go.

The U.S. is warning Iran not to block the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf. Today Iran is staging naval maneuvers and threatening to bubble up a third of the world's oil exports. Please stay with us. We have a live report coming up from the Pentagon.

Oil prices are dipping today, one day after Iran's threat pushed them beyond $100 a barrel. Meanwhile gas prices in the U.S. set a December record. On average nationwide regular gas costs $3.25 a gallon last week. That's 20 cents more than last year.

Epic pageantry, dramatic displays of grief. The people of North Korea lined the streets of Pyongyang today to say good-bye to Kim Jong-il, the man they called their dear leader. During the three hour procession, his son and chosen successor Kim Jong-un walked alongside a black car that carried his father's casket.

A new warning from U.S. officials about travel to Mexico. If you go, be alert to signs of trouble. This comes after three Americans were killed with gunmen stormed a bus in Vera Cruz. The three, a Texas mother and her two daughters, were shot and killed while on the way to visit relatives. The woman's son and another daughter survived.

Attention holiday shoppers, you set a record for buying guns. The FBI recorded more than a million-and-a-half background checks for buyers of firearms in December, and that's actually a new one month high. The actual number of guns sold could be even higher since people often buy more than one gun at a time.

And someone is shining a laser beam at jetliners at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. A cockpit was lit up by a green laser as it approached the runway last night. The 737 thankfully landed safely, and at about the same time the pilot over Atlantic southeast regional jet report ad similar incident.

Defectors ambushing security forces in the city of Daraa. Four members of Syrian forces were killed and 12 wounded when their convoy were hit by gunfire. Observers from the Arab League are in the country for a second day to determine if the government has kept its promise to stop the bloody crackdown on its citizens. All right, go ahead, count them. Six days until the Iowa caucuses. And the state Republicans aren't taking any chance when the results start to come in. The Iowa GOP has decided to move the counting to a secret location due to security concerns. One big concern, threats from the Occupy protesters who are bound to disrupt campaign events leading up to the January 3rd caucuses.

The latest mission to the moon is expected to reach lunar orbit just in time for the new year, sometime New Year's Eve in fact. Two orbiters will study how the moon was formed. NASA says the orbiters will explore the structure of the lunar interior from crust to core using a visual imaging satellite. Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, heads the project.

Now the defendant was hauled into court on a gurney as the trial of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak resumed today after several months of delay. The former dictator is 83 years old and is said to be ill. Mubarak is charged with corruption and murder. He's accused of ordering the killing of protesters who demanded an end to his 30 year regime. Court adjourned after only a few hours and is set to resume on Monday.

A former "Survivor" producer will go Mexico to stand trial for murder. Bruce Beresford-Redman is accused of killing his wife while the couple was on vacation in Cancun, Mexico. A judge has ruled there's evidence to send him south of the border for trial. The TV producer says he is innocent, but his lawyers say he decided to drop his fight against extradition.

The world has lost a movie pioneer. Remember Tarzan's sidekick Cheetah? Cheetah who was said to be around 80 years old, died Christmas Eve at a primate sanctuary in Florida. In the wild the average chimp survives only about 30 years.

We got a lot more to cover in the next two hours. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: A powerful pain killer in the making. Experts say it's 10 times stronger than Vicodin. Bob Forrest of "Celebrity Rehab" warns us of the dangers as this new prescription drug makes its way to the market.

Then this woman says she felt bullied by store clerks when she chose to breastfeed in their store.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had this big blanket over me.

SESAY: Now a big protest against the national retailer, and I'll talk with the new mother leading today's charge.

This mom says her autistic son was punished by a teacher and placed in a ball bag.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's unconscionable, I'm sorry.

SESAY: She will tell me what she want from the school now.

And look who has got jokes.

(LAUGHTER)

SESAY: The news starts now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: We have a developing situation with Iran to tell you about. The price of oil topped $100 a barrel on Iran's threat to block tankers trying to leave the Persian Gulf through the narrow Strait of Hormuz. Iran is seething over sanctions approved by the U.S. Congress and is backing up its threat by staging naval maneuvers just outside of the gulf.

Now we have this -- the Pentagon today putting Tehran on notice to tread carefully on the gulf. Quote, "anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations. Any disruption will not be tolerated." Barbara Starr has been working this story really hard for us today at the Pentagon. We also have with us General James "Spider" Marks. Thanks to both of you for joining us.

Barbara, given the comments we're getting from Pentagon officials what does it tell us how seriously the U.S. is taking Iran's threat?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isha, let's talk about what's really started all of this -- Britain, France, and Germany all talking about a new embargo on Iranian oil imports because of Iran's nuclear program. At the same time Iran is staging massive naval exercises in the north Arabian Sea just outside the strait of Hormuz, that vital oil shipping lane.

And because of what the Europeans are saying, Iran is now saying that if there is an oil embargo against it, it will shut down the strait for everyone. That has got the Pentagon very unhappy, the U.S. Navy issuing the statement about it not being tolerated.

But make no mistake the Navy doesn't just go around issuing these statements. This is because the Obama administration wants to put a military message out there to Iran, put a military face on it and make it very clear to Iran the U.S. military is in the region with its war ships and, in fact, any shut down would not be tolerated. Isha?

SESAY: Spider Marks, let me go to you. Could Iran actually pull this off? Do they have the means to seal off the Strait of Hormuz?

JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET): The deal is Iran has a very capable, very competent Navy. But the short answer is no. They cannot blockade the strait. It wouldn't happen. It would be complete lunacy for them to take it on, number one as the United States has a tremendous presence, as Barbara has already indicated.

The fifth fleet has been in that region for a longest time. And frankly all the scenarios of how that Strait of Hormuz might be disrupted have been played out thousands of times and the United States and its allies have exercised against these eventualities. It simply won't happen. And Iran clearly doesn't have the capability, primarily because it would have to be three-dimensional. It would have to be subsurface, surface, and some type of air capability to path blockade in place. That won't happen because we would see all the indicators of that about to occur.

SESAY: I want to pick up on what you said about the war gaming that's being done to basically prepare for this kind of eventuality. If it was to happen, in the realm of speculation, of course, what do you know of the plan in place?

MARKS: What would happen is Iraq would have to get beyond the bellicose stage of stating what their intentions are. What you have to realize is there will have to be actions put in place, precursor actions. They have to have manning of different types of naval craft, moving different type of surface to surface missiles, activating their radars and capabilities. All of that, every one of those motions would be picked up by the United States and our allies. Each one of those by itself might be simply a training exercise, but aggregately in order to accomplish this task that's a hostile act and the United States wouldn't stand for it.

So we would have very good, very clear intelligence of what they are trying to do and we have plans in place to go about preventing that from happening, starting with diplomatic efforts and working it right down to the tactical level of potentially engaging.

Barbara, to come back to you, you both mentioned the fifth fleet, which is based in Bahrain. To you knowledge, has there been any change in posture by the fifth fleet in response to Iran's threat?

STARR: Well the fifth fleet has always had been a high state of alert because of Iran and because of the uncertainty in the region. I don't think there's been any immediate change that anyone has detected yet with the fifth fleet.

But, you know, there's something else at play here, which is short of open warfare against Iran, and certainly everyone hopes it doesn't come to that, there is economic warfare going on here. All Iran has to do is make some sort of move and the disruption to world oil markets, the disruption to international maritime shipping, to commerce in the Gulf would be massive and significant. That is one of the major worries. You know, the world economy is already on the edge most days of the week, and nobody wants to tip it over. So the notion here is to stop Iran before they do anything that would unsettle oil markets and unsettle the world economy even further.

SESAY: And Spider Marks, are you surprised there hasn't been any statement coming out of the White House in response to these threats, or is that how you expect home to play this and leave to it the Pentagon?

MARKS: To Barbara's point, the fifth fleet is always, always, 24/7 at an incredible state of readiness and has the capabilities in the Gulf and outside of the Gulf prepared to handle these kinds of threats as they might appear. So in this case I think it is business as usual. We shouldn't give Iran too much credit here for having the capability of doing this when frankly they would have to go through some significant steps in order to achieve this end. The United States would not allow that to happen.

To Barbara's very point, 40 percent of the global demand on oil passes through the Straits of Hormuz. We're not going to allow that to be disrupted.

SESAY: Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr and General Spider Marks both joining us with some great analysis. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Now as if we haven't had enough federal budget issues this year, President Obama plans to ask Congress to raise the debt level again. Find out by how much coming up after this very quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Is there another big battle ahead in Washington? This week President Obama plans to ask Congress to raise the federal debt ceiling level by over $1 trillion. Let's look at the numbers. Right now the limit to U.S. debt is $15.2 trillion. The president wants to raise the limit by another $1.2 trillion, putting the U.S. debt limit at $16.4 trillion.

Let's bring in CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash. Dana, great to have you with us, as usual. These issues always have the potential to become political footballs. We all remember the last fight over the summer. Is there any danger to the economy this time?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The short answer is no, there's almost no doubt that the debt ceiling will be raised without the nail biting political drama that we saw over the summer, which of course resulted in the U.S. losing its AAA rating.

It's not that raising the debt ceiling isn't controversial, it is. But this time the Congress and president have a built in mechanism to deal with it. The law says if the Treasury Department says if the U.S. are within $100 billion of the debt limit and the president requests an increase in the debt ceiling, Congress has 15 days to disapprove of the debt ceiling increase. If not the increase goes through.

So given the makeup of the Senate, the fact that it's Democratic led, doesn't look like the votes are there even ultimately to vote down this debt limit increase. By the way, it's important to also note Congress isn't even in town right now or within the next 15 days to vote anyway.

SESAY: Dana, given the fact we're is going into an election year 2012, does this issue become political fodder?

BASH: No question about it. Isha, the Republicans who I'm talking to are already suggesting this is a power play by the White House because the president could have easily waited to make this request but is doing it now precisely because the Obama administration knows full well that Congress is gone, they are not here. And you may actually hear Republicans demand that the Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid call the Senate back. But I was told today by a senior Democratic source that's highly unlikely.

Are Republicans are also ripping into the White House for, in the words of one top GOP aide I talked to, "blowing through the debt ceiling increase Congress passed in August already." Now they are trying to say, there you go, Obama is a free-spending liberal.

SESAY: OK, that leads to the next question of how this would actually play into the 2012 presidential election. What are folks saying?

BASH: You can imagine this is going to be campaign candy for Republicans on the campaign trail fighting one another to be the most fiscally conservative and fighting one another to say that they are the best to run against the president. The idea of raises the debt ceiling is an anathema to most Republican primary or caucus voters. So this is good campaign fodder for Republican candidates across the board.

SESAY: Oh, dear, things are heating up again. Dana Bash joining us. Thanks, Dana.

BASH: Thank you.

SESAY: And now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB JORGENSEN, NEIGHBOR: I was banging on his door as hard as I could. I kicked it to get it open. I couldn't get a hold of him. I was banging on every door just in case because I don't know where each person lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Books, box, magazines, cans, clothing, coming up the story of a hoarder who died in his condo after it caught fire.

Plus, coffins containing remains of Louisiana citizens wash away, and now authorities are trying to get in touch with the families. Find out how this happened and what's being done about it.

And this isn't something you see every day. That is an alligator on an interstate highway in Florida with some sort of bottle hanging from its mouth. Find out what happened next. That's coming up right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hoarding is being blamed for the death of a North Carolina man in an apartment fire. Police and neighbors say the man may have become trapped by the tremendous amount of combustible materials all over his apartment. Neighbors describe the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORGENSEN: I was banging on his door as hard as I could. I kicked it to get it open, but I couldn't get a hold of him. I was banging on every door just in case because I don't know where each person lives.

TOM WALTERS, NEIGHBOR: He's lived there as long as I have. He used to live there with his mother. He's a single man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Investigators believe an electrical problem started the fire.

Rising floodwater carries away a coffin from a Louisiana cemetery. Heavy rain on Sunday and Monday flooded part of the Magnolia Baptist Church cemetery. Water damaged several grave sites and pulled one coffin from its resting place. The casket was found in a small pond and carried back to the cemetery. Some graves date back to the middle of the last century.

Some drivers in central Florida sped past a surprise, a reptile in the road. This happened on I-95 yesterday right by a concrete median. Our affiliate WKMG reports a sheriff's deputy tracked the alligator until trappers got there. If you look closely, you can see it had a bottle hanging from a hook in its mouth which officials say is a sign that someone tried to poach it. The gator was captured and put down.

We're now getting devastating details about that house fire in Connecticut that claimed the lives of three children, their grandfather and grandmother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO CONTE, INTERIM CHIEF, STAMFORD FIRE AND RESCUE: Just inside the window that he came out of we found one of the young children. I guess there were a pile of books, looks like she was placed on the books so he could get out the window and then reach in and grab her, but when he went out the window that's when he succumbed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: So sad. Coming up the details on the fire itself, how it was fought and how the mother of those little girls reacted when firefighters arrived. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Those three young girls who died Christmas morning in that tragic Connecticut home fire all died from smoke inhalation, as did their grandmother. And all four are seen in this picture as is the girls' grandfather. He's the one dressed up as Santa. Authorities now say the grandfather, Lomer Johnson, he died of blunt force trauma after apparently falling through a flaming roof.

The mother, Madonna Badger, survived the blaze and authorities say she and her boyfriend tried in vain to save those children, as did the grandfather before he died and as did firefighters. Let's listen now to Stamford fire chief Antonio Conte.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONTE: The first engine, engine four, laddered the building and was directed by miss badger to a third floor room where she said children were sleeping. The crew laddered the building, as I said, pushed through two rooms, unable to find the children. They made a very aggressive attack on rescue. They were pushed back by the intense heat and flames.

When they came out of the building, the male occupant of the building said the girls had moved from the third floor down to the second floor. A second rescue attempt was made by the same crew. They pushed in again, and again they were pushed back by the intense heat and flames.

While this was going on there were two more crews that were doing suppression techniques to try to keep the fire off of the rescue crew while they attempted to reach the girls. We found the grandfather in the back rear room of the house. He had actually made it outside the structure. He had gone through a window that was in the rear. Just inside the window that he came out of we found one of the young children, I guess there were a pile of books, looks like she was placed on the books so he could get out the window and then reach in and grab her, but when he went out the window, that's when he succumbed and she died just inside the window.

After 37 and a half years, 38 years on the job, you never are prepared for something like this.

It's heartbreak. I had to recall 70 fire fighters today for debriefing and most of them broke down. We're going to continue with counseling. So, can you be prepared for this? No. Is it our job to do something? Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, authorities say the fire began after Madonna Bagders's boyfriend removed burning embers from a fireplace and left them in a container in the rear of the home.

We are now less than a week away from the start of vote counting in the race for the White House. Our own Paul Steinhauser and Mark Preston are in Iowa right now. Let's join us from there with the latest from the campaign trail.

Plus 2011 brought with a huge jumps and large failures in technology this year. Coming up in about 2 minutes, we'll take a look at the biggest advances and biggest flops.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SESAY: Well, the clock is ticking in Iowa. Only six days until the presidential caucuses and the GOP candidates aren't mincing any words with potential voters.

CNN's Mark Preston and Paul Steinhauser are in the hawk eyed state keeping tabs with us. Paul, let me start with you and let's start off talking about Rick Santorum who is making his pitch with social conservatives.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: He sure is. Listen, you know, we don't talk a lot about the former senator from Pennsylvania because he's been so low in the polls, Mark, as you know for most of this year.

But he's visited all 99 counties out here one Iowa, six days away from those caucuses, of course. Maybe his pitch to social conservative voters is starting to work. We'll have to see.

We have a new poll coming out a little later this afternoon that may give us some insight into that. He's up with a radio spot now, Isha. Iowa air waves starting today where he talks about the big endorsements he's gotten from some major social conservative leaders.

And also that radio spot talks about the kind words he's received from Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh. Two people who maybe influential out there. You're also seeing a similar language from Rick Perry, the Texas governor.

You know, he was the front-runner at one time here in Iowa and nationally, but those poll numbers did drop and he's trying to kick start his campaign making a similar push to social conservatives.

Take listen to what he said last night about changing his stance when it comes to abortion against it in all cases even rape or incest. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That transformation was after watching the DVD "Gift of Life." The lady who was in the DVD was looking at me in the eye and she said you need to think this through. Because she said I am the product of a rape and she said my life is worth. It was a powerful moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: There you go. Rick Perry last night. And, again, why this pitch to social conservative voters? Well, they are very influential out here when it comes to the GOP, the Republican side in the caucuses. They could make the difference in a close contest -- Isha.

SESAY: And Mark, let me bring you in here to talk about the difference in strategies between Rick Santorum and Rick Kerry and whether you see them necessarily attacking maybe further to the right to try to really get a hold of the social conservatives. MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, you know, the interesting thing about Newt Gingrich is that he made a vow not to run a negative campaign, Isha.

He said that he was going to talk about his plan to turn the country around, however that all changed yesterday in an interview in "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer.

He not only went out and criticized Mitt Romney, he also criticized Ron Paul at a campaign stop just hours ago here in Iowa he sought to explain why he's doing that. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know this is hard for some of you to cover. You can fight in a positive way. You can be very strong in a positive way. You can talk about positive ideas. It's OK.

You don't have to have a nasty, negative, mudslinging consultant driven campaign and I refuse to engage in that kind of politics. And I think it's good for America to see somebody fight in a positive fight way and not degenerate into the kind of junk that you've seen on TV recently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: Now, Isha, to be fair, Newt Gingrich is coming under fire from all sides. He's taking it from Ron Paul. He's taking it from groups aligned with Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney himself has been attacking him. So clearly, right now, what we're seeing from Newt Gingrich is he's trying to define his own message and his own campaign and not allowing his rivals to do so.

The big question is and Paul, perhaps you can help me with this. Do you think that is going hurt him with Iowa voters?

STEINHAUSER: You know, people always say that here in Iowa they don't like negative campaigning. But listen, this year we've seen it here in Iowa and across the country. Republicans want an aggressive candidate.

Somebody who is going to step it up and especially take on President Barack Obama so maybe this tougher stance from Gingrich can help now with just six days to go.

PRESTON: Yes, and you know, Isha, the question really will be on the minds of Iowa voters is Newt Gingrich just defending himself or is he going negative. Of course, we'll have to wait and see on January 3rd.

SESAY: Gentlemen, let me ask you this question and maybe keeping them honest moment to borrow a phrase. Is it really a case that he's taking a stand on principle or that he can't compete when it comes to running those negative ads because he doesn't have the money and he doesn't have the infrastructure on the ground?

PRESTON: Well, he clearly doesn't have the infrastructure. I mean, there's no question about that. He was not able to get on the Virginia ballot, didn't have the infrastructure in place, the campaign organization to get the 10,000 signatures he needed in Virginia.

He doesn't have it here in Iowa either. You know, does he have the money to put ads on TV? He says he does, but I don't think he does. And Paul, I mean, what do you think?

STEINHAUSER: Yes, the campaign says they are doing well with their fundraising that they may be competitive. They're still probably going to be behind Mitt Romney when it comes to that. If they had the money would they be doing negative ads? He seems pretty firm on that, the answer is no. But, Isha, we may never know.

SESAY: Yes, I guess, we may never know. Looking forward to that Mitt Romney interview with our own Wolf Blitzer. Mark and Paul, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your insight and perspective.

And as we just said, Mitt Romney will be speaking to Wolf Blitzer along with his wife on "THE SITUATION ROOM" today. So stay with CNN for that.

From angry birds to angry customers, 2011 was a very big year for technology. CNN's Dan Simons takes a look back at some of the gadgets that changed our lives and some other stuff that really just fell flat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 2011 was the year of the tablet as device makers scrambled to catch up with Apple's iPad. But nearly all of them were flops including the playbook from Blackberry.

And speaking of Blackberry, the one time king of smart phones saw its reputation damaged amid a highly embarrassing worldwide outage. Millions of its users couldn't send and receive emails for more than three days forcing the company's CEO to deliver an online mea culpa.

MIKE LAZARIDIS, FOUNDER, RIM: You expect better from us and I expect better from us.

SIMON: The Netflix brand took a hit as well after users complained bitterly over a 60 percent price hike in their movie rental service.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame on you, Netflix.

SIMON: And the PR only got worse.

REED HASTINGS, CEO, NETFLIX: We think that the DVD service needs its own brand so that we can advertise it. So we've named our DVD service "Qwikster." SIMON: Customers hated the idea and CEO, Reed Hastings reversed himself. Netflix stock meanwhile plummeted. But some brands saw their fortunes sore. Angry birds went from being just a popular iPhone game to a merchandising bonanza.

Investors got excited this year with new tech IPOs like LinkedIn and Groupon. Silicon Valley had flashbacks to the dot-com bubble era, but the interest and stock prices have faded.

We saw social networking this year become front and center on the global stage as pro-democracy demonstrators in the Middle East used it to organize and spread their messages.

At one point, Egyptian leaders even shut down internet access during the height of the revolution. The 2011 was also a big year for hackers. The term hackitivism became part of the vocabulary as groups like "Anonymous" lost politically motivated attacks.

It also became clear that smart phones would represent the next frontier for criminals. The cellular phone industry also made headlines with a proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile.

But the Justice Department said no go, amid concerns it would harm competition in the U.S. wireless market. This year Cloud computing became in vogue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to move the digital hub, the center of your digital life into the cloud.

SIMON: Of course the biggest tech story the year was the loss of Steve Jobs.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": People around the world are mourning the death of Apple founder, Steve Jobs.

SIMON: The Apple CEO lost his long time battle with pancreatic cancer. Never before had a company chief executive have such a loving fan base.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we announce innovations --

SIMONS: The company had a smooth transition with Tim Cook taking over CEO duties and Apple once again had another major hit on its hands with its new iPhone, the 4S, which took voice recognition to a whole new level with Siri.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Find me an Italian restaurant in north beach.

SIMON: Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: It was a busy year.

A prescription pain killer is being tested right now that's pure hydrocodone. It has some addiction experts very concerned. Standing by right now for us live is Bob Forrest. He is an addiction counselor and part of the treatment team on the reality show "Celebrity Rehab." We're going to talk to him. That's coming up live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: You can bet this has some alarm bells going off. A new pain killer that's pure hydrocodone, which is highly addictive and one of the most abused prescription medicines in America.

Four companies are testing verges of the drug and one is actually very close to asking the federal government for approval to start selling it in a country where painkiller addiction crosses all boundaries and touches all classes from the pool of rural America to the rich and famous of Hollywood.

Addiction experts fear these new pills will lead to more addiction and kill more people. Joining me is addiction counselor, Bob Forrest. He's part of the treatment team on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" and the founder of Bob Forrest Counseling Services.

Bob, thanks so much for joining us. First off, what are your thoughts as you hear about these plans for this new pain killer that's pure hydrocodone?

BOB FORREST, FOUNDER, BOB FORREST COUNSELING SERVICES: I did do some research this morning and repeatedly in all the stuff I was reading on the internet is 10 times stronger and all that means to an addict is 10 times better.

So, you're going to have this drug immediately when it's on the market. It's going to be on the black market. It's going to be abused by our young people.

There's no doubt the drug company knows that. There's nobody that knows anything about drugs in America thinks this drug is not going to be abused particularly by young people.

SESAY: Let me make the point that the drug company disputes that, that it's 10 times stronger than Vicodin. What they say it's just going to be pure hydrocodone. So it won't be cut with anything in terms of lessening its addictive qualities.

FORREST: Yes. And when I deal with a lot of prescription drug addicts and what they talk about is the only damaging thing in Vicodin to the human body is the acetaminophen. So what the drug company is doing is taking that out, repacking the drug and getting it out on the market.

SESAY: What do you say to those that say that the need to treat chronic pain outweighs the risk of those who abuse these kinds of drugs? What's your response to that?

FORREST: You know, we have young people all across America dying of these drugs. I don't know what -- the drug companies would investigate a non-pleasure-giving pain relief drug I would be all for it.

But every drug they come up with is abused by our young people, leads to death of our young people and, you know, nobody really seems to be too concerned about it.

SESAY: You work with people who become addicted to various substances. Talk to us. Give us some insight into how difficult it is to treat pain killer addiction.

FORREST: Well, one of the really difficult things is for years traditionally in America illicit drug use the addict who was abusing it knew that it was wrong to do.

And nowadays the prescription drug addicts don't know that it's wrong to do. A doctor is telling them to take it. It's a different kind of animal to young people who are addicted to these drugs.

They get into it very early on. They're usually prescribed Ritalin in elementary school and the drug addiction just evolves and thrives and by the time, they are 21 or 22 they are thoroughly addicted and can't get off and can't understand how they got there.

SESAY: I want read some statistics out for our viewers so they really get a sense of perspective on this situation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost as many people die from drug poisoning as from car accidents.

And 40 percent of those poisonings were from drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin. When you hear that you know those statistics, you work in this field.

I mean, drugs like this, what your sense is what they will do to, new drugs like this. What your sense to what they will do to such statistics?

FORREST: I just wish somebody would step in and highly monitor these things. Tobacco is highly monitored. You know, 16-year-olds, 17- year-olds, 18-year-olds can't get their hands on tobacco as easily as they can with OxyContin.

So we need to look at how we regulate these drugs. I want pain relief in America and so does everybody, but that's not what's happening with these drugs.

We need to have it so that doctors prescribe only in the setting that it's designed for in pain relief. When you use these high dose opiates, these 80 mg OxyContins, that's for when you're dying of cancer, not when you have back pain, you know.

You know and that's what's being used off label and doctors prescribe it any way they want particularly in certain parts of the United States, here in Los Angeles, in Florida. Doctors can do whatever they want to do.

I'm hoping that the Conrad Murray trial has woken some doctors up to the fact that they may be held accountable. SESAY: Bob Forrest, we appreciate you joining us today and sharing your insight. Thank you.

Well, we contacted all four companies that are working on the new pure hydrocodone pills. Two have gotten back to us so far. Purdue Pharma thanked us for asking. In fact, they told us this. They say as a privately held company we do not disclose information about our drug development programs. We appreciate the opportunity to provide a comment.

Zogenix is a company that's close to seeking FDA approval for its pill. That company though denies reports that its drug is 10 times more powerful than Vicodin.

And it says Zogenix recognizes that all opioids are a risk of being abuse. And Zogenix wants more control in hydrocodone class and we are in fact bringing that if the hydro is approved.

So, just, you know, to make very, very clear that they are aware and they're looking for more regulation. That's what the company says.

OK, so news coming into us here at CNN that we want to bring to you. There are three miners trapped in a mine in New Market, Tennessee. Fifty one were able to get out when a fire broke out hundreds of feet underground at this zinc mine.

The men left behind are in a safe area we're being told and are in contact with rescuers above ground. The Young Mine as its named is located northeast of Knoxville, Tennessee. It is, of course, a story we're going to continue to monitor and bring you the latest when we get more developments.

A woman in Texas says she was harassed by Target employees when she tried to breastfeed in the store. Today, she staged a sit in at the store with a bunch of breastfeeding mothers.

Target, though, has a very different story about how the woman was treated. We're going to talk to the mother live right after this very quick break. So stay with us.

But first there are a few phrases that are sure to raise a red flag if Homeland Security is monitoring your social media accounts. The Electronic Privacy Information Center is filing a federal complaint about it.

So, are you wondering what are these trigger words? Apparently, human to animal and collapse are a few. We'll tell you a couple of others after this quick break so stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: All right, back to the words that may get you spied on by big brother if you use them online. Electronic Privacy Information Center is suing over this. We told you that the phrase human to animal and the word collapse were on the list. Turns out outbreak and illegal immigrants are also words that raise a red flag with government monitors according to the online privacy group.

All right, a bit of an unusual story trending today that we want to tell you about. A nursing mom turned to Facebook for support after she claims employees at a Houston area Target store embarrassed her when she was breastfeeding in public.

So she invited other nursing moms to join her today as a show support for breastfeeding in public. These are pictures from that Texas Target where a handful of supporters turned out and as you can see clearly with their babies in tow.

Michelle Hickman, the mom who rallied these forces joins us on the phone from Houston. Michelle, thanks for joining us. First off, tell us what happened to you.

MICHELLE HICKMAN (via telephone): Basically, I was just nursing my 5- month-old in the Target store when I was, you know, shopping for Christmas stuff on November 29th. And I sat on the Target floor and had a couple Target employees that I actually spoke with and had conversations with.

You know, regarding my role and request for me to move to the sitting room even after telling them what my legal rights were to not have to move, they kept insisting and I kept asking them what Target's policy was and what they were trained to do.

And they said it was, to you know, direct us to the nursing area or I guess official nursing area would be their fitting room in the store. And then, you know, there were another handful of women that they were all women employees were, you know, kind of hovering around the area shaking their head no, making rude faces and, you know, remarks and scowls at me.

The next morning, I called corporate office at Target and I talked to a guest relation specialist there and was told that even though Target is aware of our legal rights to nurse in public wherever the right to be both public or private places in the state of Texas, that women shouldn't be doing it and walking around the store flaunting it.

However, mind you I was sitting down in the store, not a single person came by that was a customer. I was completely covered with a large blanket. So I don't see how they find it that offensive and to that extent to get those types of comments you would think a better trained corporate level guest relations specialist.

SESAY: So, Michelle, let me ask you this. Target offered you a changing room to go into to breastfeed your baby, but you say that you preferred to do it where you were, sitting on the floor there?

Is it that you felt that you were being hidden away, they were trying to hide you away is that why you didn't want to sit in the dressing room?

HICKMAN: This is my fourth child. I have gone at the request of people before with other children before to a dressing room. This isn't the first instant by far that I've had. But the problem with that is that you have a cartful of things and when I came out my cart was gone.

Who wants to re-shop for another hour after you just spent an hour shopping and getting your cart full of stuff when you have kids in tow? That's not exactly a fun thing to do.

So after that happened to me a few times, I just have decided I don't care if they request for me to go a fitting room. I'm not going to go to a fitting room and nurse my baby and then have to re-shop everything all over again. So I just choose not to do it.

SESAY: So let me read the statement that we got from Target. I'm going to read part it and get your response. They say as a family oriented retailer Target has a long standing corporate policy that supports breastfeeding in our stores.

We want everyone to feel comfortable shopping at Target. Guests who choose to breastfeed in public areas of the store are welcome to do so without being made to feel uncomfortable.

Additionally, we support the use of fitting rooms for women who wish to breastfeed their babies, even if others are waiting to use the fitting room.

We continually educate our team members in stores across the country on store policies to ensure all guests have a positive feeling. So hearing that, how do you respond? What's your reaction?

HICKMAN: That's the response that I've gotten, you know, from Target as well. That was my official response from them, which, you know, everybody is telling me that's so not an apology, that's basically a reiterate of their breastfeeding policy and stance.

And I welcome that. That's cool that Target has that thing, but the problem is none of the employees know of it and all the employees that have been asked that they never got any training and I actually got a hold of basically the employees are reporting to come in, we get a employee handbook.

Yes within that employee handbook, the handbook has like a two sentence little statement regarding how we should handle breastfeeding within the store, but who actually paid attention to the employee handbook, who actually reads it and nobody has ever, in a training process mentioned how we would handle that type of a situation. So, you know, with Target having incidents reportedly happening all the time within their stores, dating all way back since 2006, when they first started getting really bad publicity, you would think that by now them coming out saying that we're training our employees, they would have done more than just handing them a piece of paper they are not sure that they are going to read or not read, you know, and doing nothing more than that. You know what I'm saying?

SESAY: All right, Michelle Hickman, we really do appreciate you joining us today to share your side of things.

Just to complete that Target statement, they say they did work directly with you to address your concerns and are sorry for any inconvenience caused. But we appreciate you joining us to tell us why you felt so strongly that you and others staged this sit-in with breast-feeding mothers at Target stores across the country.

Thank you, Michelle.