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Campbell Brown
President Obama Tries to Bring Olympics Home; Preventing Nuclear Iran
Aired October 01, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tonight, here are the questions we want answered.
Why is President Obama getting so much grief for trying to bring the Olympics home? He's on his way to Denmark right now on Air Force One heading up a star-studded team.
OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": Oh, he's our team captain.
BROWN: The leader of the free world drops everything to lobby for the Games.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Two weeks ago, the president said himself that he would not be going to Copenhagen because he had other priorities that were more important.
BROWN: Also, what will get Iran to give up its nuclear program, the carrot or the stick?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Iran doesn't take steps in the near future to live up to its obligation, then the United States will not continue to negotiate indefinitely.
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the worst thing we can continue to do is continue to threaten Iran.
BROWN: Plus, a special investigation. Are your kids addicted to the new drug on campus? It's shockingly easy to get, it's legal, and, for many students, it's their guilty secret.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am currently on Adderall, yes. I have been partying way too much. I have actually -- usually, Adderall, I have pushed all my work back, and I have just gotten used to the habit of saving it all to the end, taking a bunch of Adderall. It's basically just like candy. I don't think of it as anything other than a Jolly Rancher.
BROWN: How did a miracle drug become an addiction for so many college kids? I will Dr. Drew Pinsky. Our special investigation, "New Addictions," begins tonight.
And you have seen the pictures, the incredible rescue of a 4- year-old from a burning building. But you haven't heard the whole story. Tonight, the minute-by-minute account of a neighborhood hero.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is your only source for news. CNN prime time begins now. Here's Campbell Brown.
BROWN: Hi, everybody. Those are the big questions tonight, but we start as we always do with the "Mash-Up," our look at all the stories making an impact right now, the moment you may have missed. We're watching it all so you don't have to.
And it is utter misery in Indonesia tonight, another earthquake this morning, the second in two days, the death toll just staggering, at least 1,100 people. That's according to U.N. estimates.
And CNN Dan Rivers is there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The death toll is climbing all the while as the rescue operation continues here, but it's being hampered by a lack of light, a lack of power, a lack of food and water.
The hospital itself has been badly damaged. You can see outside at the front here those yellow body bags contain 12 different corpses, just some of dead that have been recovered. One man my cameraman, Mark Phillips (ph), managed to talk to who was buried in the rubble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know how badly you're hurt, or can you move, or...
RIVERS: We understand that man from Singapore has now been rescued. And he is in this hospital. We understand he is alive. We don't have any update on his condition, but one good piece of news amid all this misery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Meanwhile, more aftershocks at the scene of the week's other big natural disaster, the Samoan Islands. Thankfully none triggered a second tsunami, but the situation on the ground is grave tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Those are people that have just started down a long, long road to recovery from a tsunami that nearly wiped out the islands of Samoa and American Samoa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The death toll here continues to rise as bodies are recovered from a muddy mess of swamps littered with debris, as well as from the water, victims washing back ashore.
KATIE COURIC, HOST, "CBS EVENING NEWS": Nearly every Samoan family was touched by the tragedy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the power of nature.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The initial terror that overwhelmed these islands receded with the killer waves, leaving behind overwhelming pain. Samoans are in mourning, funerals the ritual that binds them together. Most of the dead were the very old or very young.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We lost his parents and two our kids -- well, we only had two kids. We lost both of our kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: The death toll in Samoa at least 139 and expected to rise.
In Geneva tonight, Iran promising to allow weapons inspectors into its newly disclosed nuclear plant, that is the headline from day one of these highly anticipated negotiations you have been hearing about. At the bargaining table with Iran, members of the U.N. Security Council, including the United States.
Both sides agreed to keep talking. In Washington, the White House sounding cautiously optimistic. We should emphasize cautiously. Behold the president and his press secretary on message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Today's meeting was a constructive beginning.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Constructive start.
OBAMA: Constructive.
GIBBS: Beginning.
Constructive...
OBAMA: Beginning.
We're not interested in talking for the sake of talking.
GIBBS: This is not talk for the sake of talk's sake.
OBAMA: Talk is no substitute for action.
GIBBS: We're not going to talk this issue to death. Talk to death. Talk some issue to death.
OBAMA: We are prepared to move towards increased pressure.
GIBBS: We will take additional steps to ensure that Iran knows we mean business.
OBAMA: But our patience is not unlimited.
GIBBS: We will take steps.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Again, this is just a first step. No indication Iran will abandon its nuclear program which it insists is not geared towards building weapons of mass destruction. So, what is next?
Well, Candy Crowley put that question to an ex-president all too familiar with the politics of Iraq, Jimmy Carter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Do see any hope at all that Iran is going to come to the community of nations and somehow say, sure, come look at our facility and we will certainly walk away from any nuclear ambitions?
That's not going to happen, is it?
CARTER: I hope and pray Iran will be induced to permit the international inspectors to come in and observe their entire nuclear program.
I think the worst thing we can do is to continue to threaten Iran, because if Iran is on the borderline between going nuclear or not on a weapons system, the constant threats that we or the Israelis are going to attack Iran is the best thing to force them, let's defend ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Now, Carter notes that what Iran says it's doing, developing a nuclear program for energy purposes, is perfectly legal.
Moving to the war in Afghanistan and urgent words tonight from the American commander, General Stanley McChrystal. He was speaking in London. He called the situation serious and in some ways deteriorating. Time, he says, is of the essence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, U.S. COMMANDER IN AFGHANISTAN: We need to reverse the current trends, and time does matter. Waiting doesn't prolong a favorable outcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: General McChrystal, of course, has been warning the White House that he needs more troops to avoid failure in Afghanistan, which is why we were struck by something Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today.
You know that big Afghanistan meeting the president had with his national security team yesterday? Well, according to Gibbs, they didn't discuss troop levels at all. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIBBS: I will tell you, as I have told others, there was not a discussion last night about additional troops.
QUESTION: Not in any way, shape or form?
GIBBS: Not in the three hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Kind of strange. General McChrystal was part of that meeting. The team plans to regroup on Monday.
The president himself is in the sky as we speak. He is on his way to Copenhagen to pitch his hometown to the International Olympic Committee. He is going to do the hard sell for Chicago tomorrow morning. The committee votes in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, first lady Michelle Obama well into day three of her Denmark charm offensive. And with her, of course, Chicago's other leading lady, Oprah Winfrey, who made the rounds of the morning shows.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WINFREY: I'm sort of an ambassador, am I not, Mayor?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you are.
WINFREY: I'm kind of the -- I have been appointed -- I have appointed myself my own ambassador for Chicago.
(CROSSTALK)
WINFREY: I love this city. This city has given -- really gave birth and life to me. My greatest successes came from this city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barack Obama, he's the key part of this team?
WINFREY: Oh, he's our team captain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: The trip, of course, definitely not without controversy. Some Republicans charging the president has enough work to do here at home. Others saying Chicago doesn't need the Olympics anyway. We're going to cut through all the noise tonight, separate fact from fiction for you on that story coming up in a moment.
Over to New York and an amazing story of heroism and survival and incredible pictures. The scene, a burning apartment building, a 4- year-old boy trapped by smoke and flames, but along with firefighters, a store owner from down below climbs up the fire escape and helps bring the little boy to safety, shielding him from falling debris.
Stick around, because you're going to hear the whole story from the hero himself. That's coming up a little bit later tonight. And over to California, where not every member of Hollywood royalty is rallying behind Roman Polanski. The famed director still behind bars in Switzerland tonight, facing possible extradition to the United States on a 32-year-old guilty plea for having sex with a 13- year-old girl.
Well, a who's-who of the film industry supports Polanski, but one movie star has a particularly fine line to walk here, and that is California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who spoke to Wolf Blitzer on "THE SITUATION ROOM" today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Where do you stand on the Roman Polanski uproar?
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: Well, I think that it doesn't matter if it's Roman Polanski or anyone else. I think that those things should be treated like everyone else. It doesn't matter if you are a big-time movie actor and -- or a big-time movie director or producer.
I think that he is a very respected person, and I am a big admirer of his work. But, nevertheless, I think he should be treated like everyone else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Schwarzenegger refused to say if he would pardon Polanski should the director be returned to California. He said he would treat that pardon request just like any other.
And here's a little something we couldn't resist, Madonna on David Letterman's couch last night, single and fabulous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": You were married for eight years, right?
MADONNA, MUSICIAN: Yes, Bush years.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
LETTERMAN: You spent the Bush years being married. Well, all right. Fair enough.
(LAUGHTER)
MADONNA: It was a good time to be out of America.
LETTERMAN: Uh-huh.
(LAUGHTER) (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LETTERMAN: And are there aspects of that, that you miss, being married, or do you think you will ever be married again?
MADONNA: I think I would rather get run over by a train.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Now, we couldn't help but notice something is a little different about Madonna. She seems to have lost that British accent she acquired over the years. All you Madonna fans know what I'm talking about. Everybody else, though, watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADONNA: I'm Madonna. I'm from Detroit.
I have a problem with the fact there is no air in here and I'm going to die. You have no idea. I can't take it.
Aren't you spoiled and petulant sometimes?
It was s quite shocking.
I hadn't quite adjusted to the tabloids.
It is a bit of an insight into my philosophical point of view about life.
God save the queen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: But now American Madonna is back, everybody. She is Madge no more.
And that brings us to the "Punchline" courtesy of Letterman's old rival, Jay Leno, and he takes a big old target. That's former Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE JAY LENO SHOW": John Edwards campaign official, a guy named Andrew Young, I guess they were quite close friends. Young now says there's a sex tape of John Edwards and his mistress.
Well, of course, people are stunned by this. What, John Edwards letting someone else get in front of the camera? I don't think so.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: Jay Leno, everybody. And that is the "Punchline."
President Obama going for gold tonight, trying to bring the Olympics home to Chicago. But he's catching a lot of grief for it by some cable news pundits. The big question tonight, what is wrong with trying to win the Games? We are following the money.
Plus, a special investigation, "New Addictions," a legal drug that's wildly popular now on college campuses and may have your kid hooked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going out probably once to get me through the day and one is to do work, and then probably another one at night to keep my night going just to stay out late.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Right now, President Obama is on his way to Denmark to make his pitch for holding the 2016 Summer Olympics in Chicago. He climbed aboard Air Force One just about an hour ago, seven-hour flight to get there, and then a few hours on the ground to make his pitch to the International Olympic Committee, then another seven-hour flight back to Washington. So, why this whirlwind of a trip?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama in full campaign sprint trying to help Chicago win an Olympic bid.
GIBBS: he's going to make an appeal for -- on behalf of all of America to showcase America to the world in 2016. He will work on remarks that he'll make as part of the IOC presentation -- part of the American IOC presentation. And will likely continue to make calls to members that are going to vote.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This race is really neck and neck between Chicago and Rio, that basically it's really coming down to them, and that President Obama's last-ditch effort here, this last-minute lobbying tomorrow morning, he's only going to be on the ground for four hours, could be pivotal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Not everybody, though, on board with the president's trip.
And joining me now to talk about this, Allen Sanderson, who is professor of economics at the University of Chicago -- and we should say he's also critical of President Obama's Olympic push -- also with us, Christine Brennan, who is a columnist for "USA Today" and has been reporting on all of this, and CNN political analyst Roland Martin, who is a Chicago guy. He lives there. Welcome to everybody.
Christine, let me start with you. You have been doing a lot of reporting here on what he's doing, reaching out to the members of the Olympic Committee before the vote tomorrow. Tell us about these people, who exactly he's going to be trying to impress.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, "USA TODAY": Well, there are about 100 members of the International Olympic Committee. It is the greatest collection of characters you could ever imagine in sports, Campbell, aging, predominantly male, predominantly white, Eurocentric. Almost half of them are European, many, of them 60, 70, 80 years old.
And it's just a group that you cannot -- it's mercurial to the max. You cannot be sure what they're going to do because they don't know what they're going to do. And it's not like the Iowa caucuses, in the sense it's secret voting.
And the key thing I think for everyone to keep in mind as they go into watching this tomorrow, Campbell, is that the -- until some city gets a majority, one city goes out in each round. So, the moment your city goes out, say Tokyo in the first round, all of Tokyo's votes will then scatter.
And, so, the idea is to really get all those second-round votes and make sure you're not the first city to go out. I have seen last- place cities go out, win the whole thing. I have seen first-place cities go out first. You just cannot predict what's going to happen.
BROWN: Yes, it's a complicated sort of mathematical equation, I guess.
Christine, you wrote something, though, in your column in "USA Today" talking about members of the committee that sort of struck me. And here's your quote. "This is the group that used to make decisions about what city would win the Games based on what kind of bribes they handed out, trips to Disney World and cosmetic surgery being among the favorites."
I don't want to suggest anybody is taking bribes now, but what do you mean by that? And is a presidential visit enough to sway them?
BRENNAN: I don't know about that, but just 10, 12 years ago, it was the Olympic city -- Salt Lake City, as it was known, bribery scandal.
BROWN: Yes.
BRENNAN: And, oh, my goodness, there was college scholarships being given away. Nagano was doing it. Salt Lake was doing it, many other cities.
BROWN: But do you think that's still going on, given what happened in Salt Lake especially?
BRENNAN: No, they tried to stop it by now allowing IOC members go to the cities to actually get wined and dined. So now they come to them, hence the president going to them.
But having said that, this is a group that just a few months ago got confused between baseball and softball, didn't know which was which and kicked them both out of the Olympics. So, it's kind of a scary group when you think, hey, the president is going to roll the dice tomorrow by going there.
BROWN: Right.
BRENNAN: He may help Chicago win, but even if he does a great job, Chicago still might lose.
BROWN: All right, Allen, let's get into the politics of this. There's been a lot of back and forth, but take a look at why the president may feel that an overnight trip to Denmark is worth it.
I think we have got the numbers here. I'm going to put them up on the screen, I mean, big money, big profits for these cities. Every U.S. Olympics has turned a profit in the last 25 years, and that doesn't even count the tourist dollars that are spent locally, the infrastructure left behind.
But despite those numbers, you oppose the Chicago bid. Why?
ALLEN SANDERSON, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: I don't know where you're getting your numbers.
The commissioned report for the 2016 committee said it would be $22 billion...
(CROSSTALK)
SANDERSON: ... for the greater Chicago area.
BROWN: This was just a research piece done by the "L.A. Times." So, I mean, I'm not -- I'm going based on numbers that are out there. You dispute those numbers?
(CROSSTALK)
SANDERSON: Oh, absolutely.
The $22 billion figure here, I'm not sure anybody in the country believes that, including the two authors of the report. London expected to spend $5 billion. They will spend more than $20 billion. Athens thought they would spend $4 or $5 billion. They spent $14 to $18 billion.
Most cities that host these Games lose money. And it's ludicrous to argue otherwise.
BROWN: So you just completely dispute the figures that are out there?
SANDERSON: No, absolutely. I think, if we break even, that's probably on a good day. That's all right. There are other things that we spend money on lose. It can be dogs. It can be boats. If we have a very large block party in Chicago, it's been a good day or a good couple months.
BROWN: Roland, there are a lot of polls that show about half the people in Chicago agree with Allen and oppose the bid. I think it was 45 percent oppose, 47 percent support.
You know Chicago? Why is that? Why are people so split on this?
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first of all, you have the economy, you have the recession, you have budget cuts. And so you have any number of reasons why folks are doing that. Also a lot of people don't want to deal with the hassle of dealing it because it is apparently going to change the city for a period of years because one of the issues is infrastructure in terms of a subway system, getting folks in and around the city.
They have to, frankly, revamp that. But you know what, Campbell? Here's the other issue that is also critical. This is not a Chicago bid. It is a United States bid. You're bidding against other countries as well. And so that's also one of the reasons how you frame this, because this is the president representing the United States.
I actually brought in -- this is actually the Olympic pin they're giving out, Chicago flag, the U.S. flag And so a lot of people forget that. This is really a national deal as well.
And, also, people are talking about the president shouldn't go there. Look, Air Force One is a flying Oval Office. You can get business done wherever he is in the world. And so, him going for one day or four hours, remember, President Bush went to Beijing for four days. Did anybody say he should have stayed home and do some work? I didn't hear Republicans crying about that.
BROWN: Christine, let's go to what we think might happen. I know you have said this is very unpredictable given the formula for doing it, but -- but let's just talk a little bit about the front- runner, at least.
Chicago, I know, a solid choice, but you think if these guys go with their heart, they're going to pick Rio. What ultimately do you think is going to happen?
BRENNAN: Right.
It's a great question, and you really can't know. And it's not like saying Pennsylvania is a blue state. We cannot know this because I think all the voters, a lot of them are still making up their minds or will listen to the presentations tomorrow morning, Campbell.
But I would say this. I think it will be between Rio and Chicago in the final vote. Then the question is, do those Madrid votes go with their Latin friend Rio. Where do the Asian votes go? And Obama, maybe one or two people change their minds. And that could be enough. So, simple. If they want a solid, stable bid, you come back to the United States. It's a reliable place to come. Lots of money, no problem. Chicago wins. If they want to go with their heart, they open up South America for the first time ever and they go with Rio to have an Olympics in that continent for the first time.
So, it's a real simple choice. Believe it or not, Rio is using the phrase, yes, we can.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: Campbell, you always bring your big guns. When you go for something big, you don't leave your big guns on the sidelines. You bring them with you. That's why Oprah is there and the president is there.
BROWN: Well, yes, there you go. Well, we will see what happens. It's going to be a very exciting day.
Christine, Allen, and, of course, Roland, thanks, guys. Appreciate your time tonight.
MARTIN: Thanks a bunch.
BRENNAN: Thank you.
BROWN: A man helps rescue a 4-year-old boy from a burning building. It's all caught on tape. Tonight, the neighborhood hero describes minute by minute how it all went down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And as soon as (INAUDIBLE) I opened it all the way up and I told him, stay where you're at. Breathe. As long as you're going to breathe, I said, can you hear me? And he looked at me and then to me was good enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWS BREAK)
BROWN: Coming up next, a special investigation, "New Addictions."
Tonight, we're focusing on Adderall. If you have never heard of it, you can bet your kids have. It is all the rage right now on college campuses. We found schools saturated with the drug. Some students are popping these pills like candy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have pushed all my work back, and I have just gotten used to the habit of saving it all to the end, taking a bunch of Adderall. It's basically just like candy. I don't think of it as anything other than a Jolly Rancher.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Tonight, our special investigation, "New Addictions." The drug of choice on college campuses these days is one that you may never have heard of. It is easy to get, it's legal, and it seems to help kids handle the pressure of college life, at least at first. But as more and more students are discovering, they pay a heavy price for their guilty secret. Here right now, our exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): LSD and cocaine had their day, and marijuana is not likely to disappear, but there is a new drug of choice for college students.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I take Adderall about at least once a day. If we're going out, probably once to get me through the day and once to do work ask and then probably another one at night to keep my night going.
BROWN: In the basement of his fraternity house, we sat down with one Syracuse University student who agreed to talk candidly about what he admits is an addiction, provided we conceal his identity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My freshman year, first semester, I really didn't get Adderall and actually got distracted a lot. I was sleepy a lot, didn't pay attention in class. I actually almost failed out of school, and then after discovering Adderall, I've made deans list these semesters.
BROWN: And that pressure to succeed is exactly what attract so many students to Adderall. Pop a pill before an all-nighter and they're able to focus intensely for hours. It's also easy to get. Adderall is a legal prescription drug available at any pharmacy, mostly given to treat attention disorders like ADHD.
DR. ANTHONY CAMPBELL, ADDICTION SPECIALIST: Adderall, for the most part, stimulates the brain. Kind of puts the brain in overdrive.
BROWN: Dr. Anthony Campbell studies addictions for the Department of Health and Human Services, and sadly, he says the student we spoke with at Syracuse is part of a national trend. Nearly seven percent of full-time college students admit to Adderall without a prescription.
A. CAMPBELL: Adderall is now the drug of choice. This is the new involved thing. You hear some students who might even say take vitamin A to get an A.
BROWN: He says heavy Adderall use without medical supervision can have devastating consequences, tremors, strokes and heart problems. But these warnings don't seem to scare the student we spoke to. He doesn't believe being addicted to Adderall carries the same risks as illegal drugs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As opposed to other drugs, I would definitely think about that, but for Adderall, it's just like, basically just like candy. I don't think of it as anything other than a Jolly Rancher.
BROWN: Still he admits the after-effects are rough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like a zombie actually, after being on Adderall and staying up for a day or two. I just feel drained and I just pass out and, again, miss class and just start this whole order again, where I keep putting off work and then relying on Adderall.
BROWN: It's a vicious cycle that may explain how students who start out using Adderall to get them through midterms or finals wind up becoming addicted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Using Adderall so much to study has kind of like, I always had it and then realize, you know, like maybe if I can take Adderall to go out, it would help me stay awake longer. I won't pass out in random places.
BROWN: What's more, it's a cheap fix. The student says he buys Adderall illegally without a prescription on the black market. Three pills for ten bucks, readily available, he says, in the dorms or outside the library. With all the pressures of college life, it can almost seem like a silver bullet. So much so that some college students who don't use Adderall actually sound a little jealous.
ROB HIRST-HERMANS, COLLEGE SENIOR: Definitely feel frustrated when it gets to the end of semester.
BROWN: Rob Hirst-Hermans is a senior at Syracuse. He says most of his friends use the drug.
HIRST-HERMANS: I definitely feel I'm at a disadvantage, both from here and testimonials from my friends who have used it. And I mean, sitting down at the library with someone with the same amount of workload as them and, you know, taking twice as long to finish it.
BROWN: Still what these college students may not realize acing an exam is hard, but kicking an addiction is so much harder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am currently on Adderall, yes. I've been partying way too much. I've actually been using Adderall, I pushed all my work back and I've just gotten used to the habit of saving it all to the end.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Adderall addiction a much bigger problem on campus than you think. And in a moment, Dr. Drew Pinsky is going to join us to dig a little bit deeper on this. And you can join the conversation with Dr. Drew. He's going to be answering your questions live online. Go to CNN.com/Campbell. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Adderall abuse may be the worst kept secret on campus, but could your college-age kids be abusing it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I am currently on Adderall, yes. I've been partying way too much. I've actually been using Adderall, I pushed all my work back and I've just gotten used to the habit of saving it all to the end, taking a bunch of Adderall, being up for a day or two straight and just getting all my work done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So what should you do if you suspect your child has a problem? That's the question for Dr. Drew Pinsky who is a professor of psychiatry at Keck School of Medicine at USC. He's also the host of "Loveline" on Westwood One Radio and host and executive producer of "Celebrity Rehab" on VH1.
Dr. Drew, good to see you.
DR. DREW PINSKY, KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, USC: Hey, Campbell.
BROWN: I got to say really shocking to hear how casually that student discusses abusing Adderall. And I know that you found this drug is usually a part of a much larger addiction problem, isn't it?
PINSKY: Well, it certainly can be, but your presentation, the piece you had prior to the break really was quite accurate in portraying how this thing seeps into the college life.
The fact is that kids don't perceive the potential harm. This is part of the epidemic. We're seeing a pharmaceutical drug abuse generally, which is that a lot of young people see it in their parents' medicine cabinets. They have opiates and opioids (ph) or benzodiazepines (ph), like sleeping pills and Valium. And amongst those things that they see their peers taking are psycho-stimulants, like Adderall.
So they've all known people have taken this for a long period of time, seem to suffer no adverse consequence, and then they realize that it can help them perform well at school. They figure there's no risk, and so they do it. And then it slowly sneaks up on them and becomes a very, very serious problem.
BROWN: And they really do differentiate Adderall from illegal drugs. I mean, you hear this kid say they'd never try cocaine, they would never try heroin, but to them, taking ten Adderall a day is safe.
PINSKY: Right. That is exactly that issue again, that lack of perception of harm. And kids are not dumb. If they perceive the harm, they're less likely to do it. The problem we have with pharmaceuticals today is they don't perceive the harm. And interestingly, Campbell, on your list of potential adverse events, you put strokes and heart problems. And kids already don't feel biological, so they sort of dismiss those risks. After all, it didn't happen to my friend Susie (ph) who had been on this drug for a long time. But there are even more subtle and profound issues, changes in mood, changes in personality, mainly (ph) depression, suicide idea (ph), paranoia. These are even the more common and more subtle things that can happen from these medications.
One top of that, they can trigger, exacerbate sustained addiction per se.
BROWN: One of the big surprises, I think, reporting the piece with how difficult frankly it was finding students who weren't using Adderall. Seriously.
PINSKY: Isn't that something? Isn't that something?
BROWN: I mean, talking to our interns, other kids at campuses around the country, it appears to be an epidemic. Why do you think Adderall use has exploded this way?
PINSKY: Well, I'm not sure I can answer that with great accuracy. My sense of it is that, number one, kids have come to understand that this works. It actually does enhance their performance and they don't perceive the potential cost. That's on one hand.
On the other hand, this is a commonly prescribed medication, so it's something that is relatively saturating young people's lives. On some level, they've been around that they've seen it. They know how to get it and they know it works.
BROWN: We also heard from students who were prescribed Adderall, who said that they locked up their pills so their friends wouldn't steal them.
PINKSY: Isn't that something?
BROWN: Fourteen million prescriptions for Adderall were filled last year alone. I mean, that's a lot of pills.
PINKSY: Yes.
BROWN: Is that number part of the problem, the fact that it's just out there...
PINKSY: Yes.
BROWN: ... and clearly being prescribed pretty easily?
PINSKY: Yes, that is part of the problem. Let's be clear though. I mean, it is a good medication when properly prescribed, particularly under the age of 18. ADHD properly diagnosed, properly treated has very significant benefits from a medicine like Adderall. But Adderall is a psycho-stimulant. It is a relative of methamphetamine. It's related to that. And if somebody has a family history of addiction, what to do with attention-type disorders after 18, if somebody themselves has ever had an addictive disorder or bipolar disorder, the use of this medication can be extremely treacherous. This is a no fooling issue, and young people have no sense of the potential harm that can be done.
BROWN: We didn't get into this at all in the piece, but Adderall isn't just on college campuses, I'm assuming here. You do hear about professionals using a pill to try to get an edge. Do you hear about workplace abuse as well?
PINSKY: Well, I see, you know, it's interesting you would ask that because I do see some workplace abuse, but it is mostly a concern on college campuses. I'll tell you where I see the problem in off- college campuses and adult life and general population is people who have otherwise addicted or have been addicted or in denial about their addiction find the solution in a pharmaceutical agent. This happens a lot.
And, by the way, they become the best patients on earth. They show up on time for their appointments. They're happy to receive their medication, but the fact is a psycho-stimulant for an addict becomes a disaster. And the patients get prescribed these medicines very readily and then they come to me later in real trouble.
BROWN: All right. Dr. Drew Pinsky for us tonight. Drew, thank you so much. I know you're going to stick around and help us out a little bit.
If you've got more questions about Adderall, you can chat live with Dr. Drew. Right now, go to CNN.com/Campbell.
And tomorrow, our special investigation "New Addictions" continues with something that may be going on right under your nose, kids hooked on Internet games.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I neglected pretty much everything else, relationships, school, hygiene, eating. Basically my day consisted of playing World of Warcraft and sleeping.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This child that we loved and enjoyed and have had wonderful experiences with as he was growing up was gone and replaced by this beyond sullen, withdrawn, totally anti-social person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Tonight's "Breakout" also coming up. The amazing story of a good Samaritan who helped rescue a four-year-old from a burning building. The whole thing caught on camera. You may have seen the pictures but you have not heard the whole story. Tonight, he speaks out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: Welcome back, everybody. Tonight's "Breakout" story is the video we could not stop watching today. Extraordinary courage preventing a tragedy here in New York City.
Fire broke out in an apartment complex, trapping a four-year-old boy as flames and thick smoke poured out several stories above the street. Down below a store owner named Horia Cretan saw what was happening above him and sprang into action, joining firefighters and helping to rescue that little boy.
And we should mention that boy is in the hospital. He is recovering tonight, expected to make a full recovery. And our hero shares what it was like in those dramatic moments.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HORIA CRETAN, HELPED RESCUE BOY FROM FIRE: We have flames outside. And I just -- at the beginning, I ignored it because I thought it was children playing around. This was a desperate, more like scream. That's when, you know, I said, let me see what's going on.
I went outside, and when I looked up, I saw a lot of smoke coming from the fourth floor of the building. And I grabbed the fire escape and I made my way up, all the way up to the third floor and that's where everything unfolded.
BROWN (voice-over): On the fire escape, Horia said he saw a man who told him a baby was still inside.
CRETAN: And I said, all right. Get out. You can't do nothing about it right now. We can't see anything. You have get out. Let me break the windows.
As soon as the smoke cleared somewhat, I saw the baby sitting on the next windowsill, try to press the (INAUDIBLE). The window was opened about, I would say, two inches wide. And I opened it all the way up and I told him, stay where you're at. Breathe as long as you're going to breathe. I said, can you hear me? He looked at me, and to me was good enough. He was -- he didn't have strength anymore, but he was conscious enough to acknowledge me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when they got here, they were confronted with smoke. Did a search, found the child at the entrance doorway to the bedroom, grabbed the kid, brought him out to the window and handed him over to the civilian hero.
CRETAN: They gave me the boy. He was lifeless. And I -- what I did, I put him on a ledge and I made sure I straighten his head out so he could breathe. I cleaned up his mouth and his nostrils. And I didn't get no response from him at first. Three times on his chest after straightening his neck and he opened his eyes.
Once he did that, I was happy. That's when I gave the thumbs up to everybody in the crowd. He's going to be OK. And I came down the stairs to pass the boy to another firefighter, but I heard a voice from behind which was from the apartment below, bring him through here. I said, that's a good idea. Give him back, and that's when I went back again and I gave the boy to the firefighter.
There are many levels -- there's every day heroes. They go to work to bring that hard-earned paycheck to their families. There are heroes -- there's heroes everyday. Trust me. Firefighters are heroes. (INAUDIBLE) yes, a hero just the same.
BROWN: But on the streets of the Bronx, Horia is today's hero.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Bless you.
CRETAN: That's me baby. I know how you've been. All right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And that little boy expected to make a full recovery. Again, as we told you earlier, he's in the hospital still.
By the way, this isn't Cretan's first experience as a hero. When he was just 12 years old, apparently, he saved his 10-year-old sister from a house fire in their native Romania and his bravery continued this morning. Cretan proposed to his girlfriend while being interviewed on "Good Morning America" this morning. She said yes.
Things had been getting better on Wall Street, but today the Dow plunged more than 200 points. We're going to look at what it means for you, whether it's time to change strategy. It's tonight's "Money and Main Street" report when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: "Money and Main Street" tonight. If you have been looking at your 401(k) statements again, you've probably been seeing some good news.
The past few months have been the best in years for stocks, but that good news means that you need to pay even more attention to your statement. Ali Velshi in Chicago tonight.
And, Ali, it was a year ago this week that the Dow had that big 777-point collapse. Is this recovery, I guess, a surprise?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Campbell, that week a year ago was something else. You and I remember that. That was the week that the House and the Congress was struggling over a bailout bill. When it failed on that Monday, September 29th, a year ago, the Dow did have that 777-point drop.
Take a look at the chart. Over on the left, hard to see because the market has dropped so much, but that was September 29, a year ago, when we had that big, big drop. But what happened is after that we had the bailout. We had the election, and the markets kept dropping all the way down to March 9th.
Now since then, everyone expected that when you finish with a bear market, you have a really good run-up. Some people thought it might be 15 or 20 percent. It's been 50 percent since March.
A lot of people who weren't investigated in the market are sitting here thinking, wow, looks like the market is doing really well. Should I get in? And as you said, a lot of people who have been checking their 401(k)s are sitting there saying I got 50 percent gain from the bottom. What do I do now?
This -- it was expected that markets would stop going down and they would start going up. This type of rally was not expected.
BROWN: So what should people be doing now?
VELSHI: Well, you know, I always sort of say, Campbell, that your -- your strategy about investment should be about you more than it should be about the environment or about market. So, follow some basic principles.
The first thing that any investor should do is know their risk tolerance, and that is a factor of how much longer you're going to work, how long before you retire, and how you invest. Based on that, allocate the money that you've got to invest appropriately. Don't back up the truck and decide you're buying X stock because you heard it's hot.
You know, when people always ask me, should I buy such and such of stock? My general rule of thumb is if you're asking me about whether you should buy a stock, you probably shouldn't be buying that stock. You need to allocate your assets properly.
If you have been invested, if you're one of these people who've seen your 401(k) going up, rebalance your portfolio. Take some of those winnings and distribute them to stocks that haven't won -- haven't gained as much.
Let's be smart about this. We don't know what the next six months or year holds. Use a strategy and get into this market or continue in this market wisely, Campbell.
BROWN: All right. Ali Velshi for us tonight. Ali, thanks.
Want to test your financial health? Well, go to CNN.com/moneyandmainstreet and take our test. You'll also find many other great resources there to help you out with your investments.
"LARRY KING LIVE" starts in just a few minutes, and his special guest tonight, Jon Gosselin. But up next, we're going to reveal another of CNN's top ten heroes of 2009. She is a survivor who refused to become a victim. When we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: All day today, we are revealing our top ten CNN heroes of 2009. Since January 1st, we've received more than 9,000 nominations from 100 countries. All the nominees are just everyday people who are changing the world. And Anderson Cooper is joining me now with another CNN hero to announce tonight. Who do you got? ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: It's, you know, it's really an extraordinary bunch of heroes of people that we're talking about.
We want to announce another hero this hour. Her name is Andrea Ivory. She's from Miami. She's a breast cancer survivor who's bringing early detection to the doorsteps of uninsured women.
Andrea founded the Florida Breast Health Initiative using mobile mammography vans. She's provided more than 500 free screenings for women in south Florida who do not have access to health insurance.
BROWN: So tell people what it means. What happens to our heroes?
COOPER: Well, I mean, their lives change forever. That's what we've seen in the past, and the lives of people that they're able to help often change forever.
Each of our top ten CNN heroes gets $25,000, and then you have the opportunity to vote for the CNN Hero of the Year, and that person -- there's only going to be one of them. That person gets an additional $100,000 in recognition of their work. And to pick the hero, we need your help at home because now it really is all up to our viewers.
BROWN: And Hero of the Year, a huge honor.
COOPER: Yes.
BROWN: So how do you vote for Hero of the Year?
COOPER: Yes. The person who gets Hero of the Year, on their life either get -- basically $125,000 total. It's all up to the viewers.
Tonight at 11:00, voting begins. Running a "360" special at 11:00. You're going to meet all the ten heroes. You're going to meet our Blue Ribbon judges, and you can go to CNN.com/heroes to vote.
BROWN: All right. Being announced thanksgiving night.
Anderson Cooper, thanks so much. And, of course, Anderson will be back 10:00 Eastern Time.
That does it for us. "LARRY KING LIVE" right now.
