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CNN Live Today

Africa's Orphans; You Say, You Pay

Aired December 01, 2005 - 11:31   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Today is December 1st. It is World AIDS Day. The United Nations says 40 million people across the planet are infected with HIV. That's roughly equal to the populations of Texas and Florida. Since the pandemic was recognized a generation ago, the u.n. counts 25 million AIDS-related deaths worldwide.
President Bush discussed the crisis just last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're working with our partners to provide treatment because the lives of people already infected should never be written off, because the best way to help a child in need is to help their parents live, and because people who know they can be treated are more likely to seek testing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Live on CNN this hour from Washington, the Human Rights campaign is issuing its second annual report card this World AIDS Day. The gay-and-lesbian political advocacy group gives the federal government failing marks in three of four key areas: care and treatment, prevention and research.

The AIDS crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa is staggering. The U.N. says two-thirds of the world's HIV-positive people live in Africa. The pandemic's toll can be measured in another way. AIDS has left 17 million children on that continent without parents. That number is expected to more than double over the next five years if nothing dramatic intervenes. The Los Angeles-based Save Africa's Children is helping care for Africa's AIDS orphans. The group's founder, the Bishop Charles Blake.

Bishop, good morning. And thanks for being here with us.

BISHOP CHARLES BLACK, SAVE AFRICA'S CHILDREN: And good morning to you. It's a joy to be with you.

KAGAN: It's wonderful to have you here.

What was it about Africa's children that spoke to you, and said there's a need there?

BLACK: Well, I visited Africa since the 1980s, but it was in the late -- about 1999, 2000, that I went to Harvard and received a briefing on the plight of the children on the continent of Africa. At that time, they projected that maybe 40 million of them would be orphaned because of AIDS by the year 2010. And I just felt that something had to be done. And so I gathered a group of individuals around, and we began to write and to talk, and we began to encourage people to send us money, which we in turn would send to individuals involved in orphan care on the continent of Africa. And so it was just a motivation, a sense that I had to do something, I could not sit by and allow things to be as it was said they were going to be.

KAGAN: And it's also of big goals you have; it's something you can't do by yourself. So you're trying to make the connection, an emotional connection, between African-Americans and Africans?

BLACK: Yes, I've said to African-Americans that we must become for Africa what Jewish-Americans have been for Israel. And since the days of the civil rights movement, African-Americans have really not had a major, major cause that would unify us and pull us together. And the thought of millions and millions of children without mother and father on the continent of Africa ought be something that would motivate not only African-Americans, but people all over our nation and across the world.

KAGAN: And what do you say to people that say, save africa's Children? Why aren't you focussing on saving America's children?

BLACK: Well, many are doing that. And, of course, I'm very, very concerned about all social conditions in America. But in Africa, where the average income is from $200 to $300 a year, where 70 percent of the world's AIDS orphans and possibly AIDS suffers are existing, I think that the plight of Africa really needs the attention of the world. Someone has said that Africans -- Africa's orphans are being raised without moral guidance, without love, are an army waiting on a leader. And we want to make sure that they don't get in the hands of the wrong leader.

KAGAN: You want to get them in your hands first.

BLACK: Absolutely.

KAGAN: Tell us about your long-term goals here, bishop.

BLACK: Well, we want to reach as many institutions on the continent of Africa and as many children on the continent of Africa, who are orphaned by AIDS as we can. We're supporting now 320 orphan- care programs in 21 nations of Africa, and we want to spread and expand as much as possible.

As you said, there are 17 million children on the continent of Africa now without mother or father to care for them. And so we've got to act, and we've got to act quickly to save them.

KAGAN: Bishop Charles Blake. The organization is Save Africa's Children.

Good luck with your cause, and thanks for taking the time to talk with us today.

BLACK: Thank you, and the Lord bless you. KAGAN: Thank you.

BLACK: Bye-bye.

KAGAN: You can donate, and you can get more information about Save Africa's Children, and learn more about their work. Just log on to their Web site, saveafricaschildren.com.

Also this note, tonight, CNN's Anderson Cooper will discuss AIDS with former President Bill Clinton. That's tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360," beginning at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific, right here on CNN.

(NEWSBREAK)

KAGAN: Well, if it's been a couple years since you've been in high school, you might need to cover your ears. Profanity is practically a second language in some hallways. Now, one high school in Hartford, Connecticut is cracking down on its cussing student body.

Jim Altman of affiliate WTIC has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ALTMAN, WTIC REPORTER (voice-over): Bulkeley High School resource officer Roger Pearl is on patrol.

ROGER PEARL, HARTFORD POLICE DEPT.: How are you?

ALTMAN: Cleanup patrol.

PEARL: It's consequences for your actions.

ALTMAN: The halls here really aren't dirty, but sometimes the language is.

Two weeks ago, Bulkeley instituted new rules, kids who get caught blatantly cussing get a $103 ticket. Principal Miriam Taylor is trying to make Bulkeley bleep free.

MIRIAM MORALES-TAYLOR, PRINCIPAL, BULKELEY HIGH SCHOOL: I want to send the message that we are going to stop the use of profanity at Bulkeley High School.

PEARL: If a kid blurts something out by mistake, they're not going to get a ticket, but if they blatantly get into a teacher's face or they swear, it's going to happen.

ALTMAN: So far, Officer Pearl has written up about 15 public- disturbance tickets.

(on camera): One teacher put it to me this way, out on the street, if you run your car too fast, it's up to a $300 fine, and here in the school, if you run your mouth too fast, it's a $103 fine.

(voice-over): For some parents and students we spoke to, the new policy doesn't grade so high. Sam Saylor is president of the Hartford PTO.

SAM SAYLOR, HARTFORD PTO: I understand this idea. I don't like it, because I know what is the ultimate victim, is the parent. The parent is going to pay the fine.

KIM JENKINS, BULKELEY, HIGH SCHOOL SR.: I think it's unfair towards the students to get a ticket worth $103, knowing that we're struggling already.

ALTMAN: But the school thinks this is just the ticket, and a lesson in civility.

PEARL: What we're trying to create is a safer environment for all kids.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: The school followed up its cussing crackdown with metal detectors. Right away, school security guards say they confiscated drugs, knives, even a taser gun.

Well, from bad habits to bad behavior. Is your own town making you sick? "Self" magazine has a list of best and worst places to live. We'll find out how they came up with that, and what zip codes you may want to avoid.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: A good diet, plenty of exercise -- a daily dose of each can make you healthier, but what about your zip code? Yes, where you live can play a role in your health, just like how you live. This month's "Self" magazine has Kelly Ripa on the cover. It rates the top metro areas for healthy women.

Sara Austin is news director for "Self" magazine and she's looking pretty healthy herself, joining us from New York this morning.

Hello, good morning.

SARA AUSTIN, "SELF" MAGAZINE: Hi, Daryn.

KAGAN: What were the criteria to pick the most healthy places?

AUSTIN: Well, "Self" looked at 6,000 bits of data in nearly 50 different categories, really across everything that could affect a woman's health. So we looked at disease rates, obesity and smoking rates from the CDC, crime rates from the FBI, environmental data from the EPA, even the weather.

KAGAN: OK. So you take all that together and you come up with the top five healthiest areas. Put those up on the screen. Number one, just outside of New York City? That got our attention.

AUSTIN: Nassau-Suffolk Counties, which is the Long Island area of New York. The area gets kind of a bad rap health-wise, but actually has some of the lowest crime rates in the country. Ninety- five percent of the women have health insurance. Great, healthy habits -- eating, exercise. Plenty of parks so people can get out and lead a healthy life without having to pay to join a gym.

KAGAN: All right. The least -- the five least healthy cities. Least healthy: Cincinnati, Ohio. They're not going to be happy to hear that.

AUSTIN: No, indeed. Cincinnati has some strong points, obviously. Some great hospitals and doctor there's. They fell in our survey this year because of a very high risk of rape, high rates of depression and cancer, as well as a lot of smoking among women there.

KAGAN: Here's the least healthy. I want to see the least five, so top lowest five. Cincinnati; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Oklahoma City; Dayton-Springfield, Ohio; and Memphis, Tennessee. Ohio not doing so great. Getting two cities on there.

The other fun thing of this survey that you guys came up with -- you have these kind of random topics, as well. Right at the top of your list, you have the city that has the best breasts. Now, Sara, you're going to have to explain that.

AUSTIN: Well, you know, healthy breasts are beautiful.

KAGAN: Yes, they are.

AUSTIN: So the best breasts, we say, are in Albany, New York. And that's where women are most likely to get mammograms and clinical breast exams, take good care of their breasts.

KAGAN: And I know "Self" magazine is a big promoter in fighting breast cancer. So that's what you're talking about. This is not a tip to the teen boys out there of where they need to go.

AUSTIN: No, no.

KAGAN: That's not what we're talking about.

Also, we thought it was interesting -- smokiest and most stressed, both being Las Vegas, Nevada.

AUSTIN: Both in Las Vegas. Las Vegas not only had the highest rates of women saying they had smoke in their workplace, also one of the highest rates of women being smokers themselves, 27 percent, which is way above average right now in the country. Also, we all know about the quickie marriages, but Las Vegas area also is a leader in divorce, suicide and drinking. So we call them our most stressed out.

KAGAN: And as we say good-bye to Vegas, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton. What's wrong with the women down there? They look in the mirror much?

AUSTIN: Nothing at all. They have access to the most plastic surgeons in the country per capita. So you may think that's a great thing, you may think that's a bad thing. We had some fun with them and we called them our vainest. KAGAN: Well, if they're getting good work. Let's just hope they're getting good work.

AUSTIN: Exactly.

KAGAN: If you're going to get it done, do it well.

There you go. "Self" magazine, Sara Austin, thank you.

AUSTIN: Thanks for having me.

KAGAN: And you can see more on this month's edition of "Self" magazine. Once again, Kelly Ripa on the cover of that edition.

Other health news now. The woman who received the world's first face transplant on Sunday must now undergo a bone marrow transplant. Doctors in France hope that marrow from the facial donor will help prevent the transplanted tissue from being rejected.

CNN's Brian Todd has more on this radical new surgery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Until now it was the stuff of science fiction. Eight years after the movie "Face Off" popularized the notion of swapping faces, doctors in France announced the world's first partial face transplant; replacing the nose, lips and chin of a 38-year-old woman who had been mauled in a dog attack.

The grafted tissue harvested from another woman had been declared brain dead. A procedure that has been researched extensively in the U.S., but not tried yet.

DR. JOHN BARKER, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE: If a person, for example, a burn victim, who is -- you know, half of their face is burned, the procedure consists of removing what is burned and replacing it with transplanted tissue.

TODD: Doctor John Barker is director of plastic surgery research at the University of Louisville. His teams want to do a full facial transplant.

But they're not as close as Doctor Maria Simino (ph) of the Cleveland Clinic. She heads the only team to have board approval for a complete facial transplant and she's now screening potential patients.

Neither Doctor Simino nor the doctors at Louisville would comment on the operation in France. But officials at the Cleveland Clinic tell CNN when a full facial transplant is done, an incision will be made around the entire face, the skin flap will be lifted and replaced with another face. They say initially they only plan on transplanting skin, not facial bones or muscles. And they only want to perform the surgery on patients who are burned or otherwise severely disfigured.

(on camera): In other words, officials at the Cleveland Clinic say they never want to see a facial transplant done as elective surgery; for someone who simply wants another face. Even if someone tries that, they warn you very likely will not look like your donor.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Fascinating. For your "Daily Dose" of health news online, logon to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical stories, special reports and a health library. The address is CNN.com/health.

We're going to check in on weather with Chad Myers, also business with Susan Lisovicz, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And we go live to Florida now. The arguments going on right now in the penalty phase of the murder trial of Joseph Smith. He's been convicted of killing -- of kidnapping, raping and murdering 11-year-old Carlie Brucia. He could get the death penalty, or life in prison. We're also getting word that his defense attorneys wanted Joseph Smith to be able to make a statement as part of the arguments, and the judge turned that down, saying that if he did that, that would open him up to cross-examination.

On the phone right now, Kendall Coffey, our legal analyst, who also is in Florida -- Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Good to have you here with us.

How unusual at this point in the penalty phase of a murder trial for the defendant to want to get up and make a statement right now.

COFFEY: Well, it is unusual. I think the judge correctly determined that you can't simply make a statement to the jury as the defendant without giving the prosecution the right to cross-examine the defendant, which is, of course, the last thing the defense wanted in a case like this. I suppose they had hoped they could find a situation where Smith could make his appeal personally to the jury, say whatever he wanted to say, and then avoid cross-examination. The judge correctly precluded that, although he will hear from Smith himself. The trial judge has a duty to hear directly from the defendant himself prior to the time the judge will determine sentence, because as we know, Daryn, the jury simply recommends in Florida; it is the trial judge who will make the life-or-death decision.

KAGAN: And if I remember correctly, this jury came back very quickly when it was debilitating the verdict, I think a matter of hours.

COFFEY: Five hours, and the defense did not even make a closing argument. Extraordinary.

KAGAN: Kendall Coffey, one of our legal analysts. Kendall, thank you.

COFFEY: Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: We'll keep an eye on what's happening there in Florida with the penalty phase involving Joseph Smith.

(MARKET REPORT)

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan.

International news is up next. Stay tuned for "YOUR WORLD TODAY." Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee will be along after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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