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Campbell Brown
Disaster in the Gulf Day 77; Michael Steele Under Fire
Aired July 05, 2010 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody.
Day 77 of the disaster in the Gulf, and, tonight, tar balls washing up in new places. Authorities in Texas say tar has washed up in Galveston, more than 300 miles west of the oil spill. And in New Orleans, tar balls were spotted along the shores of Lake Pontchartrain tray.
Out in the Gulf, the giant A Whale skimmer ship -- we have been telling but it, 10 stories high, more than three football fields long -- is still being tested, and nobody is sure yet whether it may work or not. But with a tropical storm possible near the Louisiana coast just in the next 24 hours, time is of the essence. We will tell you about all of that, everything going on in the Gulf.
Also tonight, the absolutely fascinating story of a California scientist who spent years studying the brains of serial killers. And then he looked to the scan of his own brain and discovered evidence that he may be a born killer himself. We will have that story, a lot to get to tonight.
But our number-one story, more fallout from the disaster in the Gulf.
Randi Kaye is live for us tonight in New Orleans.
And, Randi, let's start with this giant skimmer, the A Whale, that we have heard about. And we have heard so much about its potential to clean up a lot of the oil, but it is still not being employed. What is the holdup?
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of people have high hopes for that A Whale, Campbell. But the first 48 hours have been inconclusive and a spokesman for the owner of that giant rig, TMT Shipping Offshore, says it's because of weather which has made the seas rougher than usual.
The point of this test phase -- they tested it all weekend -- is to make operational and technical modifications so the tanker is in the best shape possible for the conditions in the Gulf. It is pretty cool, actually, how this tanker works. TMT officials say it operates very much like an actual whale, taking in water through a series of vents in the front there and then pumping internally like a human heart.
It takes in an oily water mix and then just spits out the water and keep the oil inside. This one tanker has the ability to suck up 250 times more oil than modified fishing vessels doing the very same job -- Campbell.
BROWN: And, Randi, we're also, as we reported now, hearing that those tar balls are washing up near Texas' beaches, or at least they were over the weekend. And it does appear they are coming from this spill.
And we have talked so much about the tides moving east and the oil washing up east as opposed to west. So, is this just the beginning as far as we know of a nightmare cleanup for Texas?
KAYE: Yes, a lot of people in Texas asking that. The Coast Guard came out earlier this evening, Campbell, and said no more tar balls have come in today, and the others have actually been cleaned up already.
He said that the largest were the size of a ping pong ball. Some of them have been tested, apparently, and the results show that they did in fact come from the Deepwater Horizon. At first, they weren't sure.
How they got there, though, that's another story. The Coast Guard says their consistency doesn't seem to support the idea that they naturally traveled the 402 miles or so from the wellhead to Galveston. It says it is possible they came in maybe inside the ballast of a ship or possibly even stuck to another vessel.
BROWN: All right, Randi Kaye for us tonight with the very latest -- Randi, thanks very much.
A Fourth of July weekend at the beach with the uninvited guest that we have been talking about, most of the beaches are still open, but it is very much enter at your own risk. You're having to dodge in most cases tar balls and oil slicks. Health advisories are in effect. Strong winds over the weekend solid some beaches even more.
And, as you can imagine, that is keeping summer visitors away in droves.
And as John Zarrella reports tonight, it is an economic disaster for resort towns all along the Gulf Coast. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Fireworks lit up the sky over Gulf Shores, Alabama. Unlike some oil-raked communities that decided not to light up the night sky, Gulf Shores used it as a drawing card.
GRANT BROWN, RECREATION DIRECTOR, GULF SHORES, ALABAMA: We are anything that we can to encourage people to continue to come and enjoy the coast.
ZARRELLA: Some came, but most didn't. On a typical Fourth of July, you would see more bodies and blankets than the sand itself. Not this year. Unlike the fireworks, the beach crowd, well, a dud.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't come down here and go swimming in the ocean. Can't go fishing. You know, it's just not even worth coming down really.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last year, we came, we stayed in a condo with the family, the in-laws, there, and we had a wonderful time, the beach, staying at the condo, the pool. It was fun.
ZARRELLA (on camera): This year is a little different, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This year is a little different. We didn't make reservations for the condo. We stayed at the in-laws in Mobile.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): The sentiment is reflected in the numbers. Hotel and condo bookings for the holiday weekend were down about 50 percent here.
(on camera): About an hour east here in Pensacola, more of the same, maybe worse when the final numbers are tallied. Look around, nobody here. One local popular restaurant did about $20,000 in business last July 4. This July 4, $6,000.
(voice-over): Twenty percent of Pensacola's annual tourism revenue comes during a 10-day stretch beginning with the Fourth of July.
DENIS MCKINNON, ESCAMBIA COUNTY TOURISM DEVELOP COUNCIL: From an income standpoint, it really is a devastating blow to these people to skip 20 percent of their income. Most of them don't have money put aside to try to make it through rough patches like this.
ZARRELLA: Now both Gulf Shores and Pensacola are looking forward, hoping, no, praying, they can recoup some of the losses next weekend. They have got a shot with, quite literally, sound and fury.
The sound, Jimmy Buffett performing a benefit concert in Gulf Shores next Sunday. All 35,000 tickets went in six minutes. The fury, the Blue Angels air show next Saturday in Pensacola. It usually draws a quarter of a million people. Both communities say their summer tourism seasons are hanging by a thread. If next weekend isn't a big winner, the summer of 2010 will be lost.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And John Zarrella is with me right now.
John, talk to me a little about what BP is doing if anything to try to work with these communities to draw the tourists back in.
ZARRELLA: Yes, Campbell, they're saying here it's going to even get worse -- 75 percent down is what they're projecting as a possibility in Pensacola for the entire month of July, as far as tourism. So they're working BP and they say BP is actually coming to the table. Some of the things they're talking about, perhaps BP would subsidize the price of a hotel room for tourists who do come to Pensacola and BP -- they're also saying they're talking about perhaps giving gas credit cards or a gas card or a voucher to tourists who come and check in.
Those things, they say, are the kinds of things that are on the table they're discussing with BP, although none of it has been worked out and has actually come to fruition yet -- Campbell.
BROWN: All right, John Zarrella for us tonight -- John, thank you.
When we come back, we are going to talk about the weather, what effect that is having, and also some new technology on its way that may be able to help with the cleanup right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Tonight, Louisiana coastal towns are holding their breath a little bit. They're watching this storm with 45-mile-per-hour winds, hoping that it won't get stronger and further delay cleanup efforts. The storm threat comes just as new technology is on its way that may prevent oil from washing on to beaches.
We are going to talk about that now with Mayor Connie Moran, who is hoping that a new boom can help keep more oil off the beaches of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where she lives, and keep the vacationers coming in.
The mayor with me now, as I said, along with Kaare Johnson in Pensacola, Florida, who is a radio talk show host with WIST-AM down in New Orleans. And he has been with us off and on, keeping us abreast of what's happening in Louisiana.
It's good to have Kaare reporting from Florida for us tonight.
But, Mayor, let me start with you.
I know you saw lots of visitors on your beaches, but you also saw cleanup crews out there picking up oil, which is kind of a surreal picture, isn't it?
CONNIE MORAN, MAYOR OF OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI: It's very surreal.
However, we had beaches packed last night for the fireworks in Ocean Springs. We have a lot of people come to Ocean Springs not just for the beaches, but for our restaurants. We have a lot of art galleries. And last night was indicative of a pretty typical Fourth of July for us.
BROWN: So, talk to me about the beach there and how it compares to others in Mississippi and what it looks like out there.
MORAN: Well, we just have small tar balls right now. We do have cleanup crews and lots of volunteers and residents who are pitching in, cleaning up on a daily basis. We're really not like Pensacola and Alabama beaches, because we have a lot to offer here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Biloxi and Gulfport has gaming, so we have world-class entertainment, lots of food, art, lots of festivals here, and of course, boating and fishing, although no fishing allowed right now.
BROWN: All right, so, Mayor, we were talking earlier about the giant new skimmer, this A Whale that is giving people in the Gulf some hope. I know you have got a hand in what many believe may be the next big thing, which is the Gunderboom. Talk to me about it, what it can do that the booms currently in the water cannot do.
MORAN: Well, in Ocean Springs, our board of aldermen and I didn't have a lot of faith in the small booms that you see all over the Gulf Coast. They're little more than a speed bump.
And so we contracted with Anchor QEA, a nationwide firm specializing in oil spill containment, and they came up with a device called the Gunderboom that had been used actually in the Valdez incident. It has a very large boom about three to four feet above the water surface and it is designed to go on a particular footprint, taking into mind the soil sediment and the current.
And the skirt of the boom is not just a measly 18 inches, but would range from two feet down to 24 feet, following the contour of the sea bottom. And that's the real problem here, is that the dispersants had actually submerged most of the oil, and it is floating beneath the boom.
So, this particular boom, once it is manufactured and installed, should be able to keep those tar balls and that other oil product from entering the Mississippi Sound.
BROWN: OK. So, as I understand it, you met with BP I think over the weekend and did get their approval to fund this for Mississippi at least.
MORAN: Right.
BROWN: But I guess how quickly can they be manufactured? Are they going to do it in a much more widespread area and sort of get these to all the different communities who need them?
MORAN: Well, ultimately, that's the goal. And the drawback is that it would take about eight weeks to manufacture it. It will be a design build system, anchored with large concrete blocks. We will start in Ocean Springs.
We have been very proactive in this community to find new technology. And it will go from Deer Island -- that's the barrier island behind me here -- all the way toward our East Beach, across the channel. It will protect the Biloxi Bay Basin, Fort Bayou, Davis Bayou, and the Mississippi Sound. It will be phased in then over to the city of Biloxi on the west end of Deer Island. And if it works and if BP likes it -- and all the agencies have signed off on it -- we have a permit from the Corps of Engineers -- then I hope to see similar systems all over the Gulf Coast and other states as well to help protect our estuaries, our basins.
BROWN: Right. It's just, given that timeline you just laid out, it means it has to be tested with you before they can even start building them I guess for anybody else, which is very frustrating, given how behind in terms of the schedule everyone already is.
Let me ask you, though, apart from this, this isn't going to be deployed for another couple of months, Mississippi will only start to see cleanup on the water, I believe, this week. You have skimming that's beginning in just a few days, right? I guess my first question is, why the delay there? Because you were showing us tar balls washing up on your beach I think about a week ago.
MORAN: Well, that's the most frustrating thing. And we had been promised by the Unified Command that our 11 coastal cities would be protected, first in the Gulf, and then they would stop the oil from coming in between the passes and the islands. And that did not happen.
And a week ago, when I made a frustrating call to the governor's office, the governor then did deploy the skimmer, but it wasn't until the next day. So, unfortunately, tar balls did roll up on Horn, Deer Island, Petit Bois, and on Jackson County.
However, the governor has ordered another 23 skimmers to be in total control of the state. We also were able to lease another eight skimmers under control of the state. And that will make a total of nine skimmers, plus the other 23. So, we will have about 31 skimmers here in the Mississippi Gulf region within the next several weeks.
BROWN: Right. All right. Mayor Moran...
MORAN: Why they were not here earlier, that's frustrating.
BROWN: Yes.
I appreciate your time tonight and your time all these many nights that you have talked to us.
And our apologies to our viewers. Kaare Johnson, who was supposed to be with us in Pensacola, we're having audio problems with him, so we will try to get Kaare a little bit later in the show if we can sort it all out.
Mayor, thank you.
When we come back: A doctor prescribes medical marijuana for a cancer patient. It is perfectly legal, but the man gets fired anyway, and now there is a lawsuit. We're going to dig deeper what is becoming a very divisive case a little bit later. And also, a powerful new documentary tracks a year in the lives of soldiers in a very dangerous and violent place in Eastern Afghanistan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: A new twist tonight in the contentious debate over medical marijuana -- 14 states do allow medical marijuana use but the laws do not protect legal users from termination by employers. And that's what happened in Michigan, where Wal-Mart fired an employee who is a cancer patient for using marijuana that was prescribed by a doctor.
There is a lot more to this case right now.
Here's David Mattingly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joseph Casias thought the law was on his side when he started using doctor- recommended marijuana to curb his constant pain.
JOSEPH CASIAS, FIRED EMPLOYEE: And pain like that, I don't wish it on anyone. That is just -- it is not right to hurt like that.
MATTINGLY: Medical marijuana was legalized in Casias' home state of Michigan last year. He says he never smoked on the job and never went to work stoned.
But Casias' employer, Wal-Mart, fired him anyway when he failed a company drug test after an injury on the job. Casias, who is a low- level supervisor, is now suing Wal-Mart, with the backing of the ACLU.
SCOTT MICHELMAN, ACLU ATTORNEY: Well, this case is about the right of patients to make medical decisions in consultation with their doctors, not with interference from their employers.
MATTINGLY: With 14 states now approving medical marijuana use, this case could decide how much power states really have to protect marijuana patients like Joseph Casias. Casias says medical marijuana gave him pain relief like no other drug could. An inoperable brain tumor that affects his speech also wraps his head, neck and back in a blanket of pain.
CASIAS: It means everything to me. It means more than everything to me, more than anybody could ever realize. It is such a relief to not just agonize all the time and try to deal with it and try to deal with it and go on with your life.
MATTINGLY: And now Casias is having to go on without a job. He is seeking back pay, compensation, and damages.
(on camera): Wal-Mart hasn't filed a response to the suit yet, but we did get a comment from the retail giant. A spokesman for the company says the firing of Joseph Casias wasn't because of what his doctor prescribed. It was about Casias' ability to do his job safely.
(voice-over): The statement goes on to say: "As more states allow this treatment, employers are left without any guidelines, except the federal standard. In these cases, until further guidance is available, we will always default to what we believe is the safest environment for our associates and customers."
MICHELMAN: Well, that's simply not correct under Michigan law. Under Michigan law, patients are protected for their private medical decision, in consultation with their doctors, to use medical marijuana. So, the doctors' recommendation is very much the issue, however much Wal-Mart would like to change the subject.
MATTINGLY: Casias says he is more than $18,000 in debt after years of cancer treatment and has been unable to find a job since he was fired last fall. This married father of two is not the only one with a stake in this fight. Casias is one of 20,000 legal medical marijuana users just in the state of Michigan.
David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And we want to talk about what's at stake here.
Joining me is Lisa Bloom, an attorney at TheBloomFirm.com. And she has handled employment cases for more than 20 years.
Hi, Lisa.
LISA BLOOM, ATTORNEY, THEBLOOMFIRM.COM: Hi, Campbell.
BROWN: Wal-Mart taking a very tough position on this case. Explain why.
BLOOM: Wal-Mart is in a tough position legally. And that's because states like Michigan and 13 other states have made medical marijuana legal under some situations.
But marijuana is still illegal in all 50 states under federal law. And so, Wal-Mart is taking the position, because there is this conflict of laws, we're going to default to the position that we can terminate employees who test positive on a drug test. That's what they did here.
I think it is a terribly unsympathetic position and I think if this young man gets in front of a jury and explains that he has got an inoperable brain tumor, marijuana was prescribed to help him with the pain, the jury is going to really sock it to Wal-Mart.
BROWN: So, will he get in front of a jury? And assuming he does, I guess you believe he has a really strong chance of winning. Or is this something that they would be crazy to let get in front of a jury and Wal-Mart will probably settle?
BLOOM: Well, I think this is a case that's very strong on the facts. I understand that this employee was associate of the year in 2008. He has a pretty good work record. Wal-Mart seems to have no reason to terminate him, other than the use of marijuana, which was purely done at home, doesn't seem to have had any effect on the job.
Wal-Mart's statement today that they're concerned about safety doesn't seem to be backed up, at least so far, with any stories about lack of safety on this employee's part. So, I think it is a strong case on the facts.
But, legally, an employer like Wal-Mart can hire or fire for any reason or for no reason, as long as they don't discriminate or violate some other law. Now, his attorney says this is a violation of his privacy rights. That may be the case.
This could be a disability discrimination case, as I see it, as well, because he clearly has a serious medical condition, the brain tumor. And it is being treated with the medical marijuana. That sounds like a possible case of disability discrimination as well.
BROWN: And that sounds -- you're the lawyer, but the disability case would be a very strong case for him.
(CROSSTALK)
BLOOM: It could be. These cases are never simple. But this is the kind of case I would personally love to take in front of a jury, because I think jurors would be very sympathetic to him, and I don't hear any facts really so far on Wal-Mart's side.
BROWN: Lisa Bloom with us tonight -- Lisa, thank you. Appreciate it.
BLOOM: Thanks.
BROWN: And still to come, it is one of the most dangerous places on earth. And tonight we're going to give you a very chilling look inside a hot zone in Afghanistan, a remote outpost where courageous soldiers come under fire every day, or used to come under fire every day. We are going to talk with a filmmaker who was with them when the bullets started flying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Our number-one political story tonight: Michael Steele under fire.
Ever since the RNC chairman suggested last week that the war in Afghanistan is unwinnable, members of his own party have been lining up to take him to the woodshed, with at least one notable exception.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Dismayed, angry, upset. It was an uninformed, unnecessary, unwise, untimely comment.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I think those statements are wildly inaccurate and there is no excuse for them. But the fact is that I think that Mr. Steele is going to have to assess as to whether he can still lead the Republican Party.
SEN. JIM DEMINT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Chairman Steele needs to apologize to our military, all the men and women who have been fighting in Afghanistan. This is America's war. It is not Obama's war.
REP. RON PAUL (R), TEXAS: I came out in support of Chairman Steele because I think it was overkill. He made a casual comment. He wasn't setting policy. And all of a sudden, people jump on him, like we're not allowed to have a discussion?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Congressman Paul also told CNN -- quote -- "Chairman Steele should not back off. He is giving the country, especially young people, hope as he speaks the truth about war."
President Obama spoke with the new top commander in Afghanistan, General Petraeus, today, congratulating him on his new post. That call came on a day where three more NATO troops were killed by an improvised explosive device.
And, tonight, you're about to get a look, an inside look, at just how dangerous and how violent it can be there. A powerful new documentary, "Restrepo," tracks a year in the lives of soldiers in a U.S. Army platoon in Eastern Afghanistan. Just 15 men served at that remote outpost named after a medic who was killed in action.
The film won the grand jury prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. And, earlier, I spoke to the bestselling author Sebastian Junger, one of its directors.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Sebastian, welcome to you.
SEBASTIAN JUNGER, "VANITY FAIR": Thank you.
BROWN: So, Restrepo is this outpost in the middle of nowhere in what you probably could argue is the most dangerous place on the planet right now. Describe what it is, what this place is.
JUNGER: It was a 15- to 20-man outpost that was built by hand by these soldiers, 2nd Platoon, Battle Company of the 173rd Airborne.
It was an hour-and-a-half walk from the main base. They were in almost 500 firefights in their deployment. The first day I was up there, we were attacked four times in one day. No running water. They didn't bathe for a month at a time. No Internet, no phone, no electricity at first, no cooked food, hellishly hot in the summer, swarming with flies.
They couldn't communicate with home for a month at a time. It was -- basically, they were on Mars. They had a rudimentary outpost. They were attacked 13 times that first day. And everything south of there was enemy territory. They were hit all the time. It was very, very isolated.
And the guys -- because of that, the guys did not have access to the wider world. All they had was each other. And, interestingly, after they got back, after 500 firefights in their deployment, they got back to Italy, where they were based, and, after a few weeks of sort of whooping it up, they wanted to go back to Restrepo.
And that was what I was trying to explain in my movie and in my book. Like, what is it about war that draws young men into it?
BROWN: To that point, the firefights, sort of what they went through, I have a clip of one of them talking a little bit about that. Let's play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "RESTREPO")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can skydive or bungee-jump or do kayak, but once you have been shot at, you really can't come down. There's nothing -- you can't stop that.
JUNGER: How are you going back in the civilian world then?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: This is about more though, than the adrenaline, comparing it to bungee-jumping or skydiving, being shot at.
I mean, this is -- this is about these really intense bonds that formed between these guys that you capture in the film.
JUNGER: One soldier up there said, you know, Sebastian, there's guys in the platoon who straight up hate each other. But we would all die for each other. What was going on up there was brotherhood. Very different from friendship. Brotherhood, you don't even have to like the guy, but if he's your brother you'll protect him, you'll die for him. They all felt that way about each other. And for a 19 year old, a 20 year old, that arrangement is a very, very secure place to be emotionally or psychologically. They come back to society and all of a sudden they're just 19-year-old kids again, bottom of the food chain. They don't know what role they're supposed to play in society. They really don't know who they are. That is actually more insecure, more threatening than a place like "Restrepo."
BROWN: Let me before I ask you this, play another clip, which is I think something we rarely see, which is their reaction in that moment having lost a friend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to make it. It's all right. He's alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to make it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing we can do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: It's hard to watch, I know.
JUNGER: Yes.
BROWN: But I think it's -- it's also hard to watch in a way because so much of our experience of seeing something like this is Hollywood's version of it. And you don't see people breaking down in tears ever.
JUNGER: They're people, they're kids. They're high school kids. I mean, imagine, a guy in high school, watching his best friend get hit by a bus, and crushed in front of his eyes and bleeding out. You know, like, that's the effect of watching your best friend get killed in combat. There is no difference at all. So these guys, you know, they -- in order to deal with their fear, they don't deal with their fear. They defer it.
BROWN: We do have the situation in this country right now, where thousands of these men and women are coming back, having gone through experiences like this. And we are so ill prepared to deal with it. We're not doing much to help them reintegrate into the real world, are we?
JUNGER: We're not. You know, it's a volunteer army. So only people that volunteer and their families understand that reality. And even the wives of these guys don't understand it really.
I mean, I've got e-mails from many of the wives saying, you know, watching your movie or reading your book was really helpful. If I had read your book before the divorce, we would not have gotten divorced. Because understanding what their men went through became crucial for some of these women in accepting the results of it which were incredibly painful.
BROWN: This is not a political movie. The book is not a political book. You're not taking sides here in any way. This is about the experience of war which I think is important to note. But you were there a lot over this year-long period. What was your take? I mean, do you think we're making progress?
JUNGER: Right now, this is the lowest level of violence in that country in 30 years. No one realizes that. Sixteen thousand Afghan civilians have died because of NATO combat operations in Afghanistan since 2001. A horrifying number, but it pales in comparison to the civilian deaths in the '90s. Four hundred thousand Afghan civilians died in the '90s. So by that metric, we are making progress. The question is, does the world have the staying power to actually see this through? BROWN: Let me ask you this question because I saw the movie on a Saturday night. I woke up the next morning. And "The New York Times" had this photograph on the front page of a serviceman saying goodbye, crying, as he held his 6-month-old baby. This is happening constantly in this country. And yet, it does fall off of our radar screen. Watching these guys, do they feel like that people have forgotten them?
JUNGER: One very cold winter night out there at "Restrepo" at this remote outpost, one of the guys said to me, "hey, Sebastian, let me ask you a question? Does anyone even know we're out here?" And I said, I mean, I said, yes, they know you're in Afghanistan, of course. But do they know you're at a 15-man outpost on a hilltop in zero- degree weather getting attacked five times a day? You haven't had a shower in a month? No. They don't know that. They're fighting incredibly hard out there. And that reality, Americans do not quite understand what that reality means.
BROWN: It is an amazing film, really haunting, beautifully done, but also fascinating to watch. And worth everyone's time and the book as well. It's really nice to have you here. Appreciate it.
JUNGER: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And "Restrepo" is now playing in select cities across the nation.
Coming up, a scientist looks in the mirror. While studying the brains of serial killers, he decides to scan his own brain. And guess what he found? The story when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Tomorrow, New York City rolls out the red carpet for a rare royal visit. We've got that story ahead, but first Joe Johns is here with some of the other stories we're following tonight. Hi, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Campbell. A blistering heat wave is threatening the northeast U.S. with triple digit temperatures. Tomorrow, it's expected to reach 103 degrees in Baltimore, 102 in Washington and Philadelphia, and 99 degrees in New York. The National Weather Service says Tuesday will be the hottest day of a dangerous hot spell, expected to continue all week long. Figure in the humidity, it will feel about 106 degrees in some places.
Israel announced today that it will continue to restrict construction materials allowed into Gaza but will allow other items into the territory. The Israeli government voted to ease the blockade of goods into Gaza which is ruled by Hamas. That decision came after a widely condemned incident in which Israeli soldiers stormed a humanitarian flotilla trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.
Drug smugglers in Colombia getting a little creative with cocaine. Police at Bogota airport discovered a replica of, get this, the World Cup trophy molded entirely of the drugs. Street value about $1.5 million. It was inside a package bound for Madrid, Spain. It happened to be in the semifinals. Police are searching for the would- be drug smugglers, of course. The real World Cup trophy is made of 18 karat gold, but I don't know what its street value would be.
BROWN: Yes. All right. Joe Johns tonight. Joe, thank you.
Coming up, are some people born to kill? After studying the brains of serial killers, a scientist scans his own brain and finds some striking similarity. Right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: The story getting all the buzz tonight, the Coney Island hotdog eating contest gone terribly wrong. It seems the Japanese ex- champ just couldn't stand by and watch as American Joey "Jaws" Chestnut took the crown by downing 54 dogs in 10 minutes. Here's what happened next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I spoke with a spokesperson and she said that what happened was the people were in the crowd chanting Kobayashi, because they recognized him. He said he got caught up in the moment. He got excited.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I went there as a spectator just to cheer on my ex-buddies who I've been eating with. And actually when I was there, everyone started chanting for me. Let him eat, let him eat. And he said, and in the heat of it, I jumped on the stage hoping that maybe because of the cheers, that they would actually let him eat and prove that he was the champ. But then he got arrested.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Kobayashi was charged with obstruction of governmental administration resisting arrest, trespassing, and disorderly conduct. He was released from jail today.
It was 1976 and the queen of England came to New York to wish America a happy 200th birthday. Tomorrow, her majesty will be back for her first visit to New York since the nation's bicentennial. Queen Elizabeth will visit the World Trade Center site, will address the United Nations. Senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth has more.
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RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It will be queen for half day in New York City.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her majesty, the queen of England, will be here. Going to visit --
ROTH: Her first visit since 1976.
(on camera): She's not been to New York in 30 years. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not giving it back.
ROTH: She hasn't been here since --
BILL MILLER, BRITISH GARDEN MEMORIAL TRUST: Not for many years, but --
ROTH: Does she not like New York?
MILLER: Oh, she'll love it. She'll love it. Why not?
ROTH (voice-over): At Tea & Sympathy in Greenwich Village, the queen is already here. But owner and dual citizen Nikky Perry is upset she won't be here for the queen.
NIKKY PERRY, OWNER, TEA & SYMPATHY: I would love to offer her a nice piece of Welsh rabbit and a cup of coffee/tea.
ROTH: I tried to prepare the former commoners.
(on camera): Can you bow for me? Not bad.
What would you tell her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What would I tell her? That you're beautiful.
ROTH: Don't you tell that to all the women on the street in the summer here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do but there's a different beauty involved here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's around and wants to get high tea with me, just give me a call. Well, she was very cordial last time we had it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would try to sell her a diamond watch.
ROTH: Do you think she needs jewelry?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone needs jewelry.
ROTH: What do Americans not know? I mean, we don't know what it's like to have a queen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got plenty of queens in America.
ROTH (voice-over): A queen could have some royal fun in the big city.
JAMES BONE, TIMES OF LONDON: She makes very highly scripted visits. She isn't going to be doing what Prince Harry did the other day in New York, getting on a polo pony and falling off which made news all around.
ROTH: Some New York would rather the grandkids stayed longer.
(on camera): Would you like to have tea with her?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, or her grandson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I now respectfully request her majesty --
ROTH (voice-over): The queen will first speak to the world at the United Nations as she did in 1957. The queen was 31 years old and when she noted the U.N.'s problems.
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QUEEN ELIZABETH, ENGLAND: Time has, in fact, made the task of the United Nations more difficult than it seemed when the terms of the charter were agreed at San Francisco 12 years ago.
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ROTH: Then it's a motorcade trip downtown, perhaps passing this musician.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she would just go like this like she does to everyone, instead of like that which would be pretty cool.
ROTH: The queen visits where the Twin Towers stood and a garden where the 67 British citizens who died on 9/11 are remembered.
RODNEY JOHNSON, BRITISH GARDEN MEMORIAL TRUST: This is the place for the British. And it's also about the unity of our two nations. You know, we've been, ever since we got over 1776, we've been shoulder to shoulder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will say, God bless the queen.
ROTH (on camera): What about God save the queen?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God save the queen, too.
ROTH (voice-over): Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
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BROWN: It has been decades since the queen's last visit to New York, as Richard pointed out there. So what can we expect from her majesty this time? Here with some answers for us is Richard Quest.
Lovely to see you here in person for once. So tell me a little about the speech. Her role, obviously, is largely ceremonial. So given that, how significant is the speech before the United Nations?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I think it's very significant in the sense that she will be talking about leadership. She will be talking about the different challenges of the United Nations. But as she does so, unlike any here today, gone tomorrow politician, the queen comes with a unique perspective, having been in power, if you like, being queen, for six decades.
1957 was when she talked about the difficulties of setting up the United Nations.
BROWN: Right.
QUEST: Now she's going to talk more about the challenges for the future. And remember, sorry to --
BROWN: No.
QUEST: Once I start, it's very difficult to stop me on this one.
BROWN: OK.
QUEST: Remember, she come and speaks as the head of state of 16 realms, Australia, Canada, the U.K., New Zealand and onwards (ph), as well as head of the Commonwealth.
BROWN: So why now? If 1957 was the last time she was here, why choose this moment?
QUEST: Well, the palace tell me that she was invited by the secretary general. And, of course, there's more than one way to get invited. You can suggest that an invitation might be welcome and forthcoming. And there are some at the United Nations that are suggesting that maybe the palace wanted to do this.
BROWN: Right.
QUEST: After six decades on the throne, I think the queen is -- she's not wrapping up and she's not slowing down and she's not about to abdicate or anything like that. But I think she is starting to put finesse and finish to her long reign in that sense.
BROWN: So, in addition to her speech before the U.N., is she going to have any fun while she's here?
QUEST: No, no. Well, this is different than '57, when in '57 she had lunch at the Waldorf. In '76, she went shopping at Bloomingdale's. This time it's a lot more somber. You've got the U.N. speech, you've got Ground Zero, remembering the 67 British people who died.
BROWN: Right.
QUEST: She'll be meeting some of the families from that and then it's home. Back to U.K. So it's -- look, who knows how many more visits somebody like the queen has in her to a place like the U.S.?
BROWN: Right. Well, it will be entertaining and enlightening I think for all of us to have her here and to see how things are done.
QUEST: Yes. And people are fascinated with how she's going to handle the hot temperatures.
BROWN: Yes.
QUEST: But remember, this is a woman whom Africa is her backyard as part of the realms.
BROWN: OK.
QUEST: The Caribbean is around the corner, so don't expect to see her wilt in the heat.
BROWN: OK. Duly noted. Richard Quest, it's good to have you here. Thanks, Richard.
Coming up next, an expert on the brains of ruthless killers discovers he has something in common with the murderers he has been studying for years. Right after this.
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BROWN: Imagine finding out that your brain chemistry is similar to that of a murder. That's what happened to Dr. Jim Fallon. He is an expert on the brains of psychopathic killers. He's a neuroscientist who has studied the brains of murderers for almost 30 years. And when he turned the PET scan on himself, Dr. Fallon saw all the hallmarks of a vicious killer. He told this story to me a little earlier. Take a listen.
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BROWN: You have a fascinating personal story, and underlying it all is that you believe you can pick out a killer just by looking at a picture of his brain, right?
DR. JAMES FALLON, NEUROSCIENTIST: What it appears that one can do is look at functional imaging of brains, PET scans, et cetera, in a certain group of genes, high-risk genes and the personal history of somebody, put these three elements together and get a good idea whether they have this explosive mix for sociopathy.
BROWN: You've been studying the brains of murderers for years and then one day, I know your own mother comes up to you and says, you know, you should look at some of us. And you did in fact.
FALLON: Well, after giving a number of lectures around the world about psychopathic killers, one day at a party at our house, my mother pulled me aside a few years ago. And she says, hey, you've been going around giving talks. Do you realize on your father's side, there were some really dangerous people, we think. And there was a book that just came out about it. So I looked at the book and sure enough, our direct ancestors, Thomas Cornell, was the first person in the United States in the colonies, back in 1660, to kill his mother. And there is a whole lineage of Cornells from him directly to us, to me, and there are a bit too many murderers in that group. So it was a little -- it took us aback. It became a little too personal.
BROWN: So then you decided to put your own brain, and I believe your wife's brain and your kids' brains under the microscope. FALLON: Yes.
BROWN: And what you found here is kind of startling. Explain.
FALLON: Well, we went to it innocently enough, we're part of an Alzheimer's clinical trial. So we had, having the PET scans done, the DNA taken, EEGs, the questionnaires and everything. And so I had all of these and so we had this information in parallel, separately. Once this came out, you know, I started to wonder, you know, at 50 years old, you're not supposed to start saying who am I. But after looking at my brain scans, and compared with the rest of, you know, what normal is, and people in our family, it became a little disturbing.
BROWN: And basically what you found was that your brain was very similar to what you have seen in the brains of the murderers you'd studied.
FALLON: We have the exact same pattern.
BROWN: How did you feel when that information became clear to you?
FALLON: It was a little disconcerting because then you say, well, maybe there is something about me that is sociopathic because of the same exact pattern or some similarities.
BROWN: Biology isn't destiny here. So talk to me a little bit about the factors that turned a regular guy into a killer because there's obviously something else at play.
FALLON: Right. Because in looking at the genes, I had almost everyone of the high risk alleles, that form of gene that has high risk for violence and for aggression. And I also had the brain pattern. I had that area of the brain, the orbital cortex right above the eyes that's turned off. This is the area that's involved in sense of ethics, morality, conscience.
BROWN: Right.
FALLON: And it just doesn't work in me. And so you put these two together then you ask the question, why aren't I a killer? Why aren't I, you know, a psychopath. There's other research that shows that the key third ingredient in this is early abuse if you've been really abused as a child. As it turns out, I led an absolutely charmed early life. I was very loved by everybody. My mother, my father, aunts and uncles and we had a large family and it was just a wonderful upbringing. Somehow, a very loving nurturing, non- traumatized childhood can offset these things. So yes, it's -- I was really quite surprised that if this is true, that your upbringing can really change your life that much.
BROWN: So a lot of scientists though, I know are skeptical about sort of making these leap between these traits and between homicidal behavior. How do you sort of make the case for why this is a solid theory? FALLON: You know, we have all these individual case studies, including someone like me, who's got a negative case study, if you will.
BROWN: Right.
FALLON: And so there are people who are studying the genetics of some of the killers. There are people who study PET scans, those PET scans, but there's nobody that does it altogether. You really have to look at all of these things once in a large sample. We simply don't have access to the DNA of many of these killers, their imaging patterns and their full histories. It's just a sort of, part of legal system. So we don't have access so we really -- right now, it's a working hypothesis and where the pieces make sense. But until we put it all together and test it, it's really not scientific yet.
BROWN: Dr. Jim Fallon, what a fascinating story you have. Really appreciate your time.
FALLON: Great talking to you, Campbell.
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BROWN: Larry King starts in just a few minutes. But up next, tonight's "Punch Line."
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JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": Today was another weird day in New York. They evacuated Times Square again because of a, quote, "suspicious package." But false alarm. It turns out it was just the naked cowboy. That's all.
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BROWN: Finally, tonight's "Punch Line." Fireworks or duds, you be the judge.
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CRAIG FERGUSON, TALK SHOW HOST: People always ask me where I was on my first 4th of July. And I always tell them I was in bed in diapers. Then they say, oh, yes, very funny. And then they say, no, Craig, your first fourth of July in America as an adult. And I said, I -- that's what I meant. I was in bed in diapers.
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": There is a doctor in Britain who lets his patients watch their favorite DVD during surgery to distract them and avoid the need of general anesthesia. Here's how it works. It doesn't.
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Police in Columbus, Ohio, arrested a wealthy 28-year-old Beverly Hills socialite. I don't get this. This woman, she's quite wealthy, lives in Beverly Hills. She had 13 cases containing 506 pounds of marijuana. Yes, yes.
Isn't that amazing, 506 pounds of marijuana? And she said she was not trafficking in the stuff. No. So apparently she has the worst case of glaucoma ever recorded.
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BROWN: That's it for us. "LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.
