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IED Kills 6 International Troops in Afghanistan; Flooding a Concern in Colorado; Charles and David Koch Profiled; Roger Federer Wins 7th Wimbledon Title; Kofi Annan in Damascus
Aired July 08, 2012 - 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: Hello, everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. This just in from Afghanistan. An improvised explosive device exploding in the eastern part of the country killing six international troops. This is early information coming to us from the International Security Assistance Force. Few other details are known. The attack comes the same day diplomats from around the world convened in Japan to discuss Afghanistan's future.
And this disturbing story of patient neglect in a hospital in Afghanistan, where most of the salaries and supplies are paid for by millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has been investigating the story. Warning -- some of the images in this report may be difficult to look at.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Afghan soldiers starving, lying in dirty beds with festering wounds, denied painkillers, all of this at the Kabul National Military Hospital, a hospital the U.S. paid more than $100 million to help the Afghans run.
COL. SCHUYLER GELLER, MD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Things as simple as dressing changes are not done. Patients become infected and they die.
STARR: These days, a world way, Schuyler Geller, a retired Air Force doctor, tends to his Tennessee farm.
GELLER: This will kind of a little haven.
STARR: From February 2010 to February 2011, he oversaw training of Afghans at the hospital. These photos were taken by his American military staff.
GELLER: There are patients that are starving to death because they can't buy the food. They have to bribe for food, they have to bribe for medicine. Patients were beaten when they complained about no pain medicine or no medicine.
STARR: And you are not supposed to worry about that.
GELLER: That's what we were told.
STARR: Pentagon officials do not dispute that the photos from 2010 show hidden but deliberate abuse by Afghan staff, but they insist that after a U.S. inspection, conditions have improved significantly.
In this memo to Congress Geller alleges two senior U.S. generals who oversaw Afghan training -- Lieutenant General William Caldwell and his deputy Brigadier General Gary Patton -- in 2010 delayed bringing in Pentagon investigators because of their political concerns over the looming midterm U.S. elections. Geller says Caldwell was angry, his staff wanted the inspector general to investigate, and that Patton ordered a delay out of concern it would embarrass the Obama White House.
GELLER: But then said we don't want to put that request in right now, because there is an upcoming general election, and we wouldn't want this to leak out.
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ, R-UTAH: That is just not acceptable.
STARR: Congressman Jason Chaffetz's House Oversight Subcommittee is investigating the generals' alleged behavior.
CHAFFETZ: That is a very serious allegation, but it didn't come from just one high ranking military official on the ground. It didn't come from just two. We have several of them who have stepped forward and said, yes, this was indeed the case.
STARR: Geller says he wants the truth to come out.
GELLER: The biggest frustration is our own leadership's response and how slow that was and how inadequate that was.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: General Caldwell and General Patton declined to comment to CNN, but the Pentagon is now looking into Dr. Geller's allegations. Caldwell eventually did request a DOD investigation into the hospital. It began after the 2010 election. A senior Pentagon official tells us there is no indication the White House knew about any of this, and the Pentagon says, again, that the conditions at the hospital are so much better that even TV cameras now can go in and have a look. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Barbara Starr, thanks so much for bringing that to us. Appreciate it.
This week on Tuesday the House Armed Services Subcommittee begins hearings on this very hospital issue.
Next hour, Barbara Starr will be back with another disturbing story out of Afghanistan. This video is circulating, showing a woman being executed in a remote province. Reportedly her crime -- adultery. Afghan officials say she was shot by a member of the Taliban. This type of public punishment is a painful reminder of what life can be like in that country. Next hour, I'll talk to someone who says so- called honor killings are an Afghanistan cultural problem, not necessarily driven by the Taliban.
Now to Syria. International peace envoy Kofi Annan is in the capital of Damascus for a meeting with President Assad. Broken buildings and deserted streets bear witness to the continued violence there. Activists say at least 43 people have been killed today, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says time is running out for Assad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: The future to me should be abundantly clear to those who support the Assad regime. The days are numbered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Meanwhile, the Syrian military says it is conducting live exercises and launching missiles to stay prepared for an attack from the sea.
A tragedy in Russia that no one saw coming. In the middle of the night, rain-swollen rivers overflowed, sending flood waters racing through the towns in the country's Krasnodar region. At least 150 people were killed. Hundreds of others have been injured, and more than 12,000 people are now homeless. Officials say the flood waters rushed through the towns with such force, roads were ripped up and cars were pushed into the sea.
And flooding is a big concern in Colorado, after wildfires left entire mountainsides scorched, leaving no trees or ground cover to help hold back heavy rains. Megan Fitzgerald from our affiliate KUSA reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEGAN FITZGERALD, KUSA CORRESPONDENT: When severe weather rolls in, and the threat of flooding is high --
MARK CHARD, DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Can you get with urban drainage or the National Weather Service?
FITZGERALD: The emergency operations center gets to work.
CHARD: Our role in emergency management is to identify storms that are moving into the county, get that information to first responders so that they could make decisions on when they need to notify the community.
FITZGERALD: And those notifications warn residents to avoid roads like this one. Flash flooding caused mud and debris to fill Magnolia Road. Heavy rain pushed rock and trees into some roadways. But another big concern for director Mark Chard's emergency management team is the burn areas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lower threshold levels created when you have a fire, and then subsequent flash flooding.
FITZGERALD: So Chard and his crew keep a close watch on incoming storms, monitoring what the impact could be to residents. But they are also making sure another wildfire doesn't break out at the same time.
CHARD: We also have a lightning software which we use for detecting where lightning strikes are for potential starts of wildfires.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: In the northeast, heat is the threat. Dozens of deaths are being blamed on a brutal heat wave that began over a week and a half ago. The searing temperatures have buckled roads. This damaged road in Wisconsin sent at least one car flying into the air. And heat is also being blamed for a metro train derailment in Prince George's County, Maryland. Officials say a rail buckled there. No one was seriously hurt. Dangerously high temperatures are forecast today for 11 states. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is in the CNN weather center. Boy, this has been a very hot, brutal summer already.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It has been, Fredricka, and the numbers back it up. Look at this. When you are looking back over the past 30 days, we have 4,500 daily records. Meaning record highs. Usually we might see 1,000, but 4,500? Nearly 240 all-time record highs from June 23rd to July 5th. So when it got to 106 here in Atlanta, it has never gotten that hot, ever, before, as long as record keeping has began. And we will see that for Denver and incredibly, Nashville, Tennessee with an all-time record high of 109 degrees. Wow.
Currently right now, the temperatures are a little bit better in some places. Notice, Chicago at 84 degrees and Kansas City at 81. So that is better than where it has been. But just to the south of this region, because the cold front hasn't pushed through yet, the heat advisory impacting so many states from the Midwest all the way to the South, including the Carolinas where we have dangerous heat in places like Wilmington and Raleigh and into Norfolk, Virginia. And even into Maryland and Delaware, this of course is the region that was impacted by all those power outages.
So let's take a look at when this will break finally. OK, so for Sunday, we are seeing some improvements as the front drops down. And then by Monday, a lot of places are out of the triple digits, even out of the 90s. Lexington, Kentucky at 81 Monday. And then right around 90 on Tuesday. So gradually, slowly but surely, we will watch for the front to drop down, and slightly cooler air, more typical for this time of year, will really spread across much of the region. So that is some good news.
And as it comes, and this is typical again, we have a cold front, we can certainly get severe weather. So now we have not one, but two watch boxes all the way across the Midwest and then certainly into West Virginia and including Washington, D.C. So the threat for severe thunderstorms right in this areas will stretch I think until early evening hours. We are monitoring it. So far no warnings, but it could get a little dicy for those of you with outdoor activities in this region. Make sure you have your weather radio tuned in. If there is a thunderstorm warning, take cover immediately.
WHITFIELD: My goodness. All right, good warning, thanks so much, Bonnie Schneider.
Two parents in Indiana are accused of leaving their babies in hot cars in separate incidents during this blistering heat wave. Police in Greenfield say this man left his four-month-old daughter in the car for an extended period of time with temperatures around 103 degrees. The baby later died at the hospital.
And then about 25 miles away, in the town of Fisher, this mom is accused of neglecting her 16-month-old daughter, leaving it inside the car in a shopping center parking lot. The baby was rushed to the hospital, but was released today, and she is now with Child Protective Services.
Politics. Mitt Romney is about to attend a big-buck fundraiser tonight in New York, and he will be greeted by protesters, as well. We'll tell you why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Mitt Romney's vacation at his New Hampshire lake house is officially over. Today the presumptive Republican nominee is raising campaign cash at three high-dollar fundraisers on Long Island, New York. One in Southampton tonight. He is attracting liberal protesters who don't like the host, wealthy conservative activist David Koch. CNN's Randi Kaye explains why David Koch and his brother Charles have become such controversial figures.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Come election day, you won't find the names Charles and David Koch on the ballot, but don't think for a minute they didn't have a hand in the race. The billionaire brothers own Wichita-based Koch Industries, one of the largest privately owned businesses in the United States.
Their other interest is politics. Those who track them believe they have been operating a stealth political network for years.
Politico reporter Ken Vogel.
KEN VOGEL, POLITICO.COM: Their primary political nonprofit group, Americans for Prosperity, spent as much as $45 million on political activity in the run-up to the 2010 midterm elections.
MARY BOYLE, COMMON CAUSE: The Kochs are some of the wealthiest Americans in the country.
KAYE: Critics like Mary Boyle with the nonpartisan group Common Cause says the Kochs, who are long-time libertarians, are only interested in furthering their political agenda. They funded opposition campaigns against many of President Obama's policies, including health care reform and the stimulus. The Koch brothers want fewer social services, lower corporate taxes, and limited government regulation of industries, especially environmental industries, which could benefit their refineries.
BOYLE: It's not just campaign contributions to candidates, but it's money that goes to candidates, state and national level, political action committees, political parties, think tanks like Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute as well as shadow groups.
KAYE: Federal election records show the Kochs donate to Republicans far more often than Democrats. During the 2008 campaign, they gave $1.3 million to Republicans and $200,000 to Democrats. CNN contributor Erick Erickson has written about the Kochs on his conservative blog, RedState.com.
Why do you think they get so much criticism?
ERICK ERICKSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, everyone on left and right likes to have a bogeyman, they like to have a face to put to something bad. So for the right for the longest time it was George Soros. On the left, it was Richard Mellon Scaife for years, going after the Clintons. Well, no one knows who he is anymore, so now it is David and Charles Koch who are the bogeyman.
KAYE: Erickson says this is nothing more than David and Charles Koch getting caught in the net of conspiracy theorists.
Do you believe they are working behind the scenes in some stealth manner to further their interests?
ERICKSON: There is nothing secret there. I think people believe in conspiracy theories -- it is kind of like the nuts on the right who believe in the birth certificate conspiracy, you've got the nuts on the left who believe that the Kochs are involved in every bad thing that happens.
KAYE: David and Charles Koch are both in their 70s. They rarely do interviews, and our story was no exception. But in March, Charles did respond to criticism in this op-ed.
He wrote, "even when such policies benefit us, we only support the policies that enhance true economic freedom."
And today supporting those policies is easier than ever.
BOYLE: A year ago, the Supreme Court gave the green light for unlimited corporate spending in our politics, as well as anonymous spending in our politics.
KAYE: So as the 2012 campaign heats up, you can bet the Koch brothers will be front and center, or at least their wallet will be.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And after today's fundraiser in the Hamptons, Mitt Romney gets ready to address the NAACP in Houston Wednesday. President Obama plans a campaign visit to Iowa this week. The economy and health care remain big issues for both, not always in ways they would like. CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein joining me now from Washington. Good to see you, Ron.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Fred. Glad to be back.
WHITFIELD: Thank you. Hopefully you have a little AC or at least power back in your home, yes?
BROWNSTEIN: Exactly. Yes.
WHITFIELD: OK, so the numbers for the economy remain pretty weak. What is the president's best argument that he is on the right path?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think the economic report that came out Friday, the jobs report, really underscores the diminishing odds that this president is going to get any kind of tailwind from the economy before November. And I think that has two big implications for him. First I think it tells us that this is just going to be a dog fight, and in all likelihood a very close election that may turn on turnout and mobilization efforts.
The second implication for the president though is that I think this increases the pressure on him to make a contrast or a negative argument against Mitt Romney. What they were hoping to argue was more of a, look, we took the country back from the brink. We're moving in the right direction. Do you want to turn back? It is tougher to lean heavily on that argument with economic news that is so equivocal at best. And I think that really is going to push them further towards accentuating an argument that tries to make the case against Mitt Romney's direction.
WHITFIELD: So, Mitt Romney is saying that corporate taxes, he is sticking on the message of economy, but he says corporate taxes are too high. Businesses face too much regulation. Is that an argument that is going to connect with voters, who are simply trying to pay their bills, who are trying to already kind of grasp the fact that he's got money in foreign banks and they are not quite sure what that means, and the Obama administration is using that to their advantage with in fact a new campaign ad?
BROWNSTEIN: I was out on July 4th, interviewing voters in the Denver suburbs. This was pretty much how I spend July 4th every year. And I was struck by really this is fundamentally first and foremost about President Obama at this point. At least there. There are many voters who say he's done about as best as he could having been handed a very difficult situation. And to the extent that they are looking for an alternative, they are basically saying whatever we are doing isn't working, we have to try something else. Mitt Romney isn't very sharply defined in their mind.
But the Romney program is pretty much the program that we saw under George W. Bush, when we had large tax cuts and less regulation. And ten years after the Bush tax cuts were passed, there were fewer people working than on the day that he signed them into law. So there is an argument for the president to say that we have tried this path and it hasn't worked.
I think, Fred, the reality is that this last increment of swing voters don't have a lot of faith that either side today really has an answer to the economic problems that have really been plaguing them for many years now of slow income growth, now accentuated by difficulty in the job market itself.
WHITFIELD: And this morning taxes still remaining an issue on the morning talk shows, specifically on Candy Crowley's "State of the Union." Former Democratic Senator Bill Bradley saying more people -- more than just the wealthy should be paying higher taxes. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL BRADLEY, FORMER SENATOR: If we are going to succeed, we have to face our problems squarely. The deficit is one problem, and that requires taxes on a lot of people, not just the wealthy. Entitlements, defense. But the real issue is we need more people working in America and we need higher incomes for Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: How would the White House be responding to that, or maybe even Mitt Romney for that matter, in your view?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, of course Mitt Romney is imposing a further 20 percent reduction in marginal tax rates at this point, which sets up a stark contrast with President Obama, who wants to let the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest alone expire, raising that top rate back to where it was under Bill Clinton.
Look, what Bill Bradley says reflects a point of view that is, you know, has a substantial constituency at least among fiscal experts. It says the long-term deficit is a serious enough problem that it's not going to be closed solely by raising taxes on those at 250 and above, even if it is coupled with significant reductions in the growth of spending on entitlements.
There are others in the Democratic Party, for example Peter Orszag, the former head of the Office of Management and Budget under President Obama, who says that at some point all of the Bush tax cuts should be allowed to expire. We should go back to the tax cuts of the 1990s under which, after all, we had a good economy. Over 22 million jobs created during the Clinton administration.
But that is something I think the president has indicated publicly and privately that he will fight to the end. And I think if he is reelected and there is some sort of a broader fiscal deal, he will continue to draw a line at 250 and above. As you know, Fred, there are Democrats who have gone even higher and say the taxes should only be raised on people on a million or above. It is very hard to see how we will really narrow the fiscal deficit if we don't have a broader assault on the deficit than that.
WHITFIELD: You know, and this U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Health Care Act still resonating, still having legs. Romney spending a good part of the week in a tangle over whether the health care plan includes a mandate, or a tax, whether that's a penalty or a tax, he kept trying to say that there are no differences between what he did in Massachusetts and what the president has done on a federal level. Is he getting any mileage out of this, or is it posing a greater problem for him?
BROWNSTEIN: This is a difficult issue for both candidates at this point. On the one hand President Obama has never successfully convinced in polls a majority of Americans that his tax reform will be good for them and their family, and the court decision, by underscoring that the law will remain in force if he is reelected, I think increases the pressure on him to be able to do that, because it makes it more relevant.
On the other hand, as you note, Mitt Romney, since he has been governor, has changed his positions on a lot of issues, but he has rarely looked as tangled and even disingenuous as he did this week trying to explain the differences between his mandate at the state level, the only other mandate that's ever been signed into law, and what they did at the federal level, when in fact his mandate in Massachusetts is also enforced through the tax code and has a higher penalty -- about double than the federal government penalty would have.
One last point about Massachusetts worth noting. Only 44,000 people in Massachusetts are subject to the fine for not purchasing health insurance. Over 98 percent of the state has chosen -- does have health insurance now. And what that says, I think, Fred, is that if this mandate ever is brought into law, the vast majority of people without health insurance would choose to buy it with the substantial help the law provides from the federal government. And what John Roberts said was a tax was solely the fine on people who chose not to buy health insurance. The legal (ph) level of Massachusetts it that it will be a relatively small number of folks.
WHITFIELD: All right. Fascinating stuff. Ron Brownstein, always good to see you, thanks so much.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Perhaps you watched a little Wimbledon today if you are a big tennis fan? Strawberries, cream and a little piece of history? At the tennis tournament today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In London, Roger Federer wins his seventh Wimbledon crown. The British tennis fans are a bit disappointed after he beat the UK's Andy Murray by three sets to one. Murray was hoping to become the first Brit to win the Wimbledon men's singles title since 1936. Our Amanda Davies is live in London, so Amanda, it was a pretty close match at first with Murray winning the first set. What caused the tables to turn?
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Roger Federer is a very good player. In fact, he wasn't going to let a good story stand in the way of his 17th Grand Slam title. It was an incredibly emotional Andy Murray after the match. He really couldn't contain his emotions, because of that weight of expectations and the hopes of a nation that had been resting on his shoulders. As you said, he was the first British man into the final here, hoping to be the first British man to win here since Fred Perry 76 years ago. And he did get off to a fantastic start. People have worried that he wouldn't because of the pressure on his shoulders, but he easily won the first set. But Roger Federer hasn't won here six times before for no reason. He is a very, very good tennis player. He has the experience and has the skills and the ability to step up when needed. And that's exactly what he did. He took out those enforced errors, he started hitting some more winners, and winning the second set 7 games to 5.
Then there was a rain delay. The roof came on, and the problem for Andy Murray is Roger Federer's two favorite surfaces are grass and indoor. And when the roof came on here, that combined the two of them, and Roger Federer really was unstoppable then. Andy Murray just could not answer him. And so it is Roger Federer celebrating his seventh Wimbledon title. He equaled Pete Sampras' record, and he is also celebrating becoming the world No. 1 once again.
WHITFIELD: Yes, good for him, at 30 no less. And that was quite the tumble for Andy Murray there with that slick grass. Oh, boy. So it seems both of them, however, were very gracious at the end of the tourney. Andy Murray barely able to keep back a tear. But the crowd really coming to their feet and supporting him. And Roger Federer saying, don't worry about it, I see that one day you probably are going to win at least one title. Grand Slam title.
DAVIES: Yes, and that is the general feeling here. The feeling -- John McEnroe says if Andy Murray manages to win one, then he will go on and win a lot of Grand Slam titles. But the problem is, he has just got to win that first one, and there's three other fantastic players who are playing at the moment. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal. And maybe the hope for Andy Murray is that he gets to a final and plays a player that is not one of those three. Somebody else has got to get to the final one of these days, you would think. I think it is now 29 out of 30 Grand Slam finals has been won by one of those top three. So it is a really tough challenge. And maybe it could be he is just around at the wrong time. But I know the British fans here have still got faith, they've always got hope.
(CROSSTALK)
DAVIES: And of course with the Olympics coming up in a couple of week's time.
WHITFIELD: That's right. All right. Amanda Davies, thanks so much. Exciting time in London this entire year, as a matter of fact.
All right. Here is a question for you. Can you make it through a day without your internet? You might find out tomorrow when many of us could have our online access shut down. I have some simple tips on how you might be able to avoid that.
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Assad International peace envoy Kofi arrived in Damascus, Syria today. He is scheduled to meet with President. It is his third trip to the country since the violence began there last year. Activists say at least 43 people have been killed across Syria today alone. Earlier today Egypt's newly elected president announced that he is over riding a military eating and ordering the return of the countries Islamas dominated parliament. The decision may be the first test of the relationship between President Morsi and the countries military.
And tomorrow you may be among hundreds of thousand of people who will be left without the internet. What are you going to do? Because the FBI will shut down internet server station nationwide in an effort to get rid of something really nasty. Here to tell us more about the virus, CNN tech editor Stacy Cowley. First off Stacy good to see you. And for those of us still in the dark what exactly is the threat?
STACY COWLEY, CNN TECH EDITOR: Thank you for having me on. Well, this is a particularly nasty piece of Malware called CNS Changer that was created by a group of sodet (ph) hackers. What it was is a scam that ran for about two years where they were able to redirect internet traffic through their own servers. Now the FBI called this an action and shut it down in November. But since then they have been running temporary servers to help those affected be aware of this and get notified about it so they can notify them to clean it up.
WHITFIELD: So what can I do if anything you know to avoid losing internet access?
COWLEY: Well the good news is that this has been a pretty successful cleanup effort. When the FBI shut the scam down in November there was an estimated 4 million computers were affected. Since then the FBI and a bunch of other groups have been pushing a real awareness campaign. They got that number down to about 300,000 computers world wide. So the good news is that some of those infected have already been cleaned up. But there is still a pretty large number out there that still want to make sure that they catch.
So one of the ways you personally can check to see if your system is affected is to go to a website called DNS-OK.US. That website will take a look at your system and if it comes up with a green light you are good to go. If you have a problem that website has links to the FBI page that will explain to you how you can go and take a look at your system and hopefully fix some of this. All of the major antivirus packages are now aware of this; they will be able to catch it and test the infection and help you clean it up. And the FBI is recommending that if people do see problems on their system reach out to your internet service provider. All of the major providers are aware of this and standing by to work with customers on cleaning up any problems tomorrow.
WHITFIELD: So if the FBI were to keep all of these servers on what would happen to these hundreds of thousands of computers?
COWLEY: Well basically that is what they have been doing for the last six months or so. Because they realize that because the traffic was being redirected through the other server that if they shut them down people would be suddenly stranded and that wasn't a good solution.
So they work with several internet groups to create these temporary servers. They were originally supposed to be shut down in March but at that point the infection level was still high enough that they felt they need more time to warn people. So they got a court extension that is going to continue to keeping the servers online until tomorrow. So right now people who are infected are running through the servers that the FBI is helping maintain. But they do need to shut them down at some point and tomorrow is the deadline. So people who are still running through those infested servers will end up just having a blackout tomorrow which is why they are recommending that people kind of be on the alert for this and reach out to your provider if you have trouble.
WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Stacy Cowley thanks so much. Now we all know what to do and what to look out for. Appreciate it.
All right. Melinda Gates is a practicing catholic and yet she wants to provide contraception to women around the world. How would she make her case to the Pope?
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WHITFIELD: Melinda Gates wants to raise billions of dollars to provide contraceptives to women around the world. She is a practicing catholic and the wife of billionaire Bill Gates. Her program has sparked controversy among catholic bloggers. It has talked about her faith and her plan with our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Your are a practicing catholic, you have been very open about this. Your own bishop in Dallas has said, Conception is sacred and it is god's greatest gift. Artificial contraception violates the meaning of this gift." First of all how do you wrestle with that?
MELINDA GATES, BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION: You have to be willing to speak your mind. I have to be able to say to me the contraceptive piece is not controversial. My roots, part of why I do what I do in the foundation comes from that incredible social justice upbringing I have, this belief in that all lives have equal value. So we are not going to agree on everything but that is OK.
GUPTA: If you are meeting with the Pope what would you tell him?
GATES: I would tell him that I think this is right for all women. If you believe in helping poor women, if you believe in children living and thriving I think this is a necessary tool in this day and age.
GUPTA: Another charge from catholic bloggers that birth control amounts to population control. Is this population control?
GATES: No. I think that's where we have gotten ourselves also in trouble on this issue. Deciding about a family is a decision that needs to be made inside of a family. The population is coming down in countries where there is wide spread access to contraceptives. Which you have to start at the bottom up. To hear a poor woman say to me I can't find the means to feed this child. If I have seven children there is no way I can feed and keep alive seven children I think somebody needs to give voice to that and I think it is important that I do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: For more on this story be sure to check out our "Belief Blog" at CNN.com/belief. You can add your comments, as well.
A real treat for a NASCAR fan in Daytona.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBIN MEADE, HLN HOST, MORNING EXPRESS WITH ROBIN MEADE:" O say, can you see by the dawn's early light. What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Doesn't she look familiar? Sound familiar? Robin Meade of our sister network HLN singing the national anthem. Meade is the host of "Morning Express with Robin Meade." That was fantastic.
And this New Hampshire man is hoping his performance of the national anthem will earn him a spot in the "Guinness book of World Records." He performed the song at public events 217 times over 365 days. Allen Saint Louis says he singing marathon originally started out as a joke.
All right. Face to face with Tab Benoit the Grammy nominated swamp blues guitarist wants the government to step up and do more to preserve the wetlands. And now some big names in music are giving him a little backup.
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WHITFIELD: It wasn't long ago when Grammy nominated swamp blues guitarist Tab Benoit became the voice of preserving the wetlands. And today he remains committed to saving endangered coastal areas in Louisiana. He is collaborating with some pretty big names in music to raise awareness. I caught up with him in New Orleans and asked him face to face what more can be done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Tab Belnoit great to see you.
Nice to see you.
WHITFIELD: Last time we spoke we were talking about the wetlands and the BP oil spill and the damage and the recovery. Since that time what have been your observations about the wetlands that you love so much and are so committed to?
TAB BENOIT, MUSICIAN: Well, you know I really haven't seen the commitment from the federal government to step up and do what needs to be done here. I mean this is a federal government issue. It's a Corps of Engineers issue and it needs to be addressed. We are still losing an acre an hour. That's the amount of land we lose here.
WHITFIELD: So what needs to be addressed and how? Because we are talking too about what naturally should be taking place when you talk about erosion and what is precipitated by man.
BENOIT: For a long time now here, I mean obviously everybody knows that we provide a lot of oil and gas for the rest of the country. I know we have to drill and it's a part of what we do and it is a part of our energy source, the biggest part but you know, it's always been one way or the other. We never really balanced this. There is a way to balance all of this.
The reason that the river isn't feeding the Delta anymore is because of shipping. They want to keep the channel deep so we are choking it down with levees and it is not feeding the Delta anymore. So the Gulf is reclaiming everything that the Delta built. If we don't get some of that Mississippi water back into the Delta we lose everything. Because where we are sitting right now was built by the Mississippi River. It is part of what the Gulf will reclaim eventually.
WHITFIELD: Is that what is at the root of your music? The voice of the wetlands, it is collaboration, you, --
BENOIT: We got together before Katrina. I mean I'm a pilot so I spent a lot of time flying pipeline patrols along the coast and looking at it from the air you can see where we are messing things up and you can see how we can do it differently. I started getting with the guys who are the musicians in town and trying to get a group together to make some noise and tell everybody look we have to address this.
WHITFIELD: At what point did you realize or come to the realization that music can really be a convoy to help convey that message and could also help activate some solutions and some real remedies?
BENOIT: I realized it when people try to get me to run for public office and I realize that I knew people that went that route and once they got elected they lost power. They lost the ability to tell the truth. They lost the ability to go out and say this is what I see. This is what needs to happen. That is why the music is so popular around here because we have gone through powerful things. The musicians that all had to leave for Katrina all ended up coming back because they can't help it. They got to come back. This is where the fire is.
WHITFIELD: So the country has a lot to learn from the lessons of Louisiana.
BENOIT: Oh definitely. You know whether it be in how we handle emergencies and how we get ahead of the game in the infrastructure that is falling apart, how do we deal with the energy crisis and making more energy and how do we deal with big spills and things like that, yes you better watch us. You know you are going to need the information that is coming from here eventually in this country everywhere.
WHITFIELD: Tab Benoit thanks so much for teaching us with a spoken word and through your music.
BENOIT: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Tab Benoit is taking his message on the road when he performs this Wednesday at Tune's on the Dunes in Rhode Island.
Tanisho is only nine years and he is already headed to college. No he is in college. We will meet this budding genius and hear why he loves looking at the stars.
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WHITFIELD: He's nine years old, already in college and has big ideas for his future and yours. Tanisho Abraham says he fits right in at Sacramento's America River College even though his fellow students are in large part at least ten years older than him. He explains why he loves astronomy in particular so much.
TANISHO ABRAHAM, 9-YEAR OLD COLLEGE STUDENT: I like astronomy because you learn about what's out there like what stars are out there and how a star is created. And like how a galaxy is created. What like interactions between stars, and the formation of like maybe axle planets, planets that orbit other stars. You also learn about our place in the universe, basically.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness and I understand that you help discover a super nova and an ex o planet. And I am learning about ex o planet for the first time because of you. Tell me more.
ABRAHAM: So basically an ex o planet is a planet that orbits another star. On my t shirt this space craft actually looks for ex o planets with a method called the transit method. So basically this space craft is called Kepler. It basically measures the intensity of a star for some time and it looks for dips like, yes.
But what the scientists down on earth look for dips in the light curves. If you see the dip like regularly that could mean that we found an ex o planet. What I want to do with all my knowledge is like invent new things and like invent new technologies and be a doctor to take care of people and make people healthy and so forth. And I also want to like maybe yes like --
WHITFIELD: There's more?
ABRAHAM: Yes. There's more. So let's say I want to tell let's say like I want maybe I could warn people about stuff like or like to tell people to eat good foods or like what I'm learning in my nutrition class. It's important for people to be healthy so you can teach about people to be healthy so that can also help people in some ways.
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WHITFIELD: Remember the name, Tanisho Abraham. He wants to be an inventor, a doctor, an astronomer, oh and by the way maybe even president, he says. He is probably on a pretty good track to do all of that. He has earned straight A's all ready in all of his college classes.
All right. Well it is a safe bet; that Tanisho would approve of New York City's new plan to keep people healthy is child's play for grownups. But if you have to go out today just a reminder you can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone, you can also watch CNN live from your laptop. Just go to CNN.com/tv.
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WHITFIELD: It's been a month since we introduced you to five military vets most amputees out to climb North America's highest peak, Mount McKinley in Alaska also known as Denali. Well their three week journey ended a bit prematurely but challenged leader Sergeant Kirk Bauer's says he still feels quiet good about it.
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SGT. KIRK M. BAUER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DISABLED SPORTS USA: We were all very, very disappointed. I cried when we had to turn back on the final attempt. We were on the glacier for 21 days. But all of us feel that the adventure was a success. Because you know the big picture what we were trying to do is inspire and motivate others with disabilities.
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WHITFIELD: Hear more about their amazing journey in the next hour right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A unique way to keep people healthy in New York. The city is building play grounds not just for kids, adults. It is a plan a lot of people are welcoming with open arms.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go. We have too much idle time on our hands in New York City. It does help me stay in shape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now we need recreation for everybody, the humans. You know things for them to do.
ADRIAN BENEPE, NYC PARKS COMMISSIONER: While there have been sort of outdoor adult fitness play grounds really since the 1930s just really in the last few years that we have started to come up with newer applications.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have Yankee Stadium right there. You have the cars right there moving so your mind, it is not like a gym like an indoor gym where you just hear weights dropping and it is kind of like the outside. So before you know it you are done with your workout.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got people playing basketball over there. People running over there and people doing push ups and pull ups here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At times people need to quit it or this is a great place to clear your thoughts. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not bad for 39.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They really care about people making a place like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy looks good right here. He got me out here. As bad as he looks he got me out here. I look a lot better than him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am working on cardio.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a big cost when people are not in shape or they become ill. There are some very practical reasons for urging people to get exercise for free.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm tired.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is one of the best things ever just to see something like this. This is like an adult jungle gym, an adult facility. So it is really a good thing to have and definitely should have more of them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We let the world run out of time. You have to take some time for yourself. That is what this place is all about. That is what I love about this place.
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