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CNN Live Today
Democrats Vote to Take Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson Off of House Ways and Means Committee; Motorcycle Safety
Aired June 16, 2006 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Live picture of the U.S. House. Now the vote is up to the full House to talked about Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson. Democrats had voted earlier to take him off of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. They're upset with allegations of wrongdoing that he faces, even though he hasn't been charged with anything yet.
Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill will talk more about what Congressman Jefferson faces at this time -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, Daryn, sorry, I'm just hearing trite now in my ear that the House voted by unanimous consent to remove Congressman Jefferson from the House Ways and Means Committee. They've asked him to temporarily step aside while this FBI investigation gets wrapped up. I'm sure everybody remembers the pictures of that raid on Congressman Jefferson's office here on Capitol Hill, set off a political fire storm on both sides of the aisle. He is still under investigation. He has not been indicted, let alone convicted.
Nevertheless, the House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi drew a line in the stand. She has been trying for weeks, Daryn, to get him to voluntarily step aside, he refused, so she brought it to the rank and file, who voted to remove Congressman Jefferson. It's now official. This is not removing him from his congressional seat in Louisiana, but from the powerful Ways and Means, the tax-writing committee that he sits on, until this FBI investigation is wrapped up. Whether or not his name is cleared, we don't know -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right, we'll be following that from Capitol Hill. Andrea, thank you.
This out of Pittsburgh now, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger now says he will wear a helmet if he ever gets on a motorcycle again. The Pittsburgh Steeler suffered serious injuries after a crash this week. He says he's lucky to be alive.
Our John Roberts takes a closer look at the dangers of riding a motorcycle without a helmet. He filed this report for "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SR. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This video, posted on an Internet Web site, shows just how quickly a routine ride can go terribly wrong. The crash is sickening, but the rider was wearing a helmet. In fact, the camera was attached to it, and she's conscious.
(on camera): As a rider myself, I can tell you there's a certain sense of freedom that comes with taking off the helmet. It feels good. And it looks good. That is, right up until you kiss the car that's just turned in front of you.
(voice-over): Look at this video from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety of a rider that crashed without a helmet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is your name Bradley?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your name?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Bradley Stone (ph). So the answer to that question was yes.
ROBERTS: How close Ben Roethlisberger came to that kind of brain damage we'll never know, but Dr. Jeffrey Augenstein says he's incredibly lucky. The chief of the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial in Miami, Augenstein says motorcycle deaths have increased dramatically since Florida repealed its helmet law back in 2000.
DR. JEFFREY AUGENSTEIN, RYDER TRAUMA CENTER: You increase the number of admissions from about 3,500 to approximately 5,000. Increases in severe injuries by about 80 percent.
ROBERTS: Florida is one of 27 states where adult riders can go helmet-free. Michigan was added to that list just this month. Four others have no helmet laws at all.
This surveillance video shows that in an instant, life can change, and when a helmetless head hits the pavement, says Dr. Augenstein, dramatic forces reshape the brain.
AUGENSTEIN: Your brain just keeps on moving into the skull, and it tears apart the blood vessels in the brain, tears apart the nerves in the brain, smashes the brain against the skull. The brain rebounds and smashes again on the other side of it.
ROBERTS: For Gerry Dana and Terry Hillerich, who we found teaching a motorcycle safety course at Northern Virginia Community College, there is not even an argument. Dana came off his Harley nine years ago, head first.
GERRY DANA, MOTORCYCLE SAFETY INSTRUCTOR: Wouldn't have much of a face left, I know that. When I did hit, I hit here and on the side.
ROBERTS: Hillerich's son owns the same type of muscular street rocket as Roethlisberger. Hillerich rides it all the time, can't figure out why Roethlisberger would ever get on it without a helmet.
TERRY HILLERICH, MOTORCYCLE SAFETY INSTRUCTOR: I realize what he does for a living, he gets jumped on by 400-pound people but that's safer than riding one of those without a helmet.
ROBERTS: The debate over head protection has gone on for decades. For helmet advocates it is about tragedies like this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is your name Bradley?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
ROBERTS: For opponents of helmet laws, it is about having the right to make a choice and hoping this never happens to them. John Roberts, CNN, Washington.
John Roberts, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: John, good to see your wearing your helmet.
For in-depth coverage of today's top stories, watch "PAULA ZAHN NOW," weeknights at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.
Eat your veggies. You won't believe who's doing it and how it's whittling away their waistline. That's ahead on LIVE TODAY.
Stay tuned to CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: The freshman 15, the mere mention of the word can trigger feels of horror and dread. But college students can keep extra pounds at bay the natural way.
Our senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores one school's approach to creating a fit nation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When you think of a college student's diet, you probably envision pizza, beer and fast food. However, one college is offering up fresher, healthier option. U.C. Berkeley has gone organic.
CHUCK DAVIES, EXEC. CHEF, U.C. BERKELEY: We're 100 percent certified organic. What that means is at least 95 percent of the products that we have on our salad bar at any given time are organic.
GUPTA: Berkeley says it's making history, that it's now the first college in the nation to have a certified organic salad bar. Now being organic meant meeting strict food guidelines.
DAVIES: And then the processing has to happen in a separate space so there's no intermarrying between conventional products and organic.
GUPTA: Berkeley's Student Dieting Committee insisted the organic salad bar accommodates special dietary needs, such as vegan, vegetarian and allergies to glute, and soy and milk.
The students also felt passionate about helping environment and the community.
DAVIES: Berkeley is, you know, the birth of the free-speech movement, and it's very politically progressive, and I think there's a lot of awareness about organic and the advent of supporting local farmers.
GUPTA: One Berkeley student credits the organic salad bar with transforming his life.
GARY CHAMPAGNE, BERKELEY STUDENT: I used to weigh 250 pounds when I was 18, so the way I did it was basically, when I would come in here, before I could eat what I wanted to eat, I would have to eat a full serving of vegetables or salad first, with a glass of water just to kind of fill myself up.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: For the rest of Dr. Gupta's "Fit Nation" special, tune in Sunday night. You'll hear inspiration stories from people who have won the battle of the bulge. Plus, fitness tips from your favorite celebrities. That's Sunday night at 7:00 Eastern.
It was a love song written by a teen. Is it out of tune now that he really is 64? Yes, Paul McCartney marks a milestone. He tells me what he thinks about that, ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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KAGAN: About 19 minutes away from a ton of international news. Jim Clancy is here to tell us what we can look for on "YOUR WORLD TODAY." Hi, Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Daryn.
Well, we're going to take our viewers to South Africa, where a nation is revisiting a tragedy some 30 years ago that ultimately changed the course of history. Correspondent Alphonso Van Marsh details the black student uprising against being forced to speak Afrikaans in school. It started in the streets of Soweto. Hundreds of protesters were killed. But this battle over language gave black South Africans a voice of their own.
We're going to visit Paris. That's where correspondent Jim Bittermann will introduce us to some female legislators who came all the way from Afghanistan to learn about freedom and democracy. But, as he tells the story, these are women who could teach the rest of us a bit about independence.
Plus, what would "YOUR WORLD TODAY" be without, well, your World Cup? We're going to share with you more of what we call the fantastic fan zone. They don't call it the beautiful game for nothing.
Daryn, that's all coming up at noon Eastern.
KAGAN: Jim, can you believe that Paul McCartney is turning 64?
CLANCY: I can't believe it.
KAGAN: Absolutely. Incredible. We'll see you in just a bit.
CLANCY: He's looking good.
KAGAN: He is looking good.
Paul McCartney wrote about it -- he wrote this song when he was 16, and he's thinking about it a little bit more recently. Now, I had a chance to talk with him during his U.S. tour last year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Are you singing out there, "When I Turn 64"?
PAUL MCCARTNEY, MUSICIAN: No, I'm not singing that.
KAGAN: You're not.
MCCARTNEY: But I've got a nasty feeling I might be next year. My kid says to me, Dad, you have got to disappear off the face of the planet.
KAGAN: For that one year?
MCCARTNEY: Next year. Next year, don't be here. I said, well, it's either that, or I'll be right in the middle of it all. So I haven't yet made the decision. If you don't see me next year, you'll know why.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: We heard it here first. Of course, it's a little hard to disappear when you're going through a high profile divorce from his second wife, Heather Mills. But divorce or not, Paul McCartney turning 64 on Sunday.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
KAGAN: Well, a lot of you might be celebrating Father's Day this weekend, so it's a perfect time for us to share this touching story with you about a grandfather with physical obstacles, and his grandson with mental challenges. You can learn from their lessons on life and love, and even loss.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN (voice-over): You're watching a love affair...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No more! DANIEL GOTTLIEB, AUTHOR, "LETTERS TO SAM": Come on!
KAGAN: ... between a grandfather and a grandson. The type of relationship you see every day. This one, though, has a twist. Grandpa is Daniel Gottlieb, psychologist, host on a National Public Radio, and a quadraplegic.
GOTTLIEB: My accident took place 26 years ago. I was driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Harrisburg to buy a surprise 10th anniversary gift for my wife. An 18-wheeler truck lost one of its wheels, the whole wheel, and it bounced and hit my car, crushed it and broke my neck.
KAGAN: Gottlieb has been paralyzed from the shoulders down ever since. He says he doesn't remember much about the accident.
GOTTLIEB: I don't recall anything except seeing a black thing in the sky moments before it hit my car. My -- I often say to people, though, that's not my story. That's so many people's stories. So many of us are hit by a black thing. You discover a lump or a spouse says I can't do this anymore or something happens to a child or -- or. Most of us are hit by a black thing at some point in our lives.
KAGAN: And that's how Gottlieb works, takes his unusual journey and applies it to the rest of our lives.
GOTTLIEB: I've learned lessons over these last 25 years about how to cope with it, how to enjoy one's life living inside the body that I have.
KAGAN: Nothing has given Gottlieb more joy than the birth six years ago of his first grandchild, Sam.
GOTTLIEB: Anybody who's had a child experiences a perfect love when they see that child for the first time. Their hearts are wide open. And that's what I feel when I see Sam. Not that he's a perfect child, but that the love is perfect.
KAGAN: And an inspiration to write a sears of letters, a book, grandfather to grandson, about love, loss and the gifts of life. The focus of the book changed right after Sam turned one. Doctors diagnosed him as autistic.
GOTTLIEB: Once I discovered that Sam had autism, it did feel more urgent to write this book, because I had so much more I wanted to tell him. I wanted to tell him all about what it means to be different and how to cope with alienation, how to deal with other people who look at you differently or worse, don't look at you at all.
KAGAN: From his wheelchair, Gottlieb points out, the world sees his disability on the outside. While Sam looks normal, he has challenges inside.
GOTTLIEB: He can't do big emotions. And most important, he doesn't read subtleties in other people's emotions. He just can't do it. And that's why they have difficulties socially. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many lady bugs? Who wants to tell me how many lady bugs?
KAGAN: Gottlieb knows there will be things that are hard for Sam, in some ways the same things that are difficult for everyone. That understanding led to the letter about loss.
GOTTLIEB: "Sam, almost everything you become attached to we'll eventually lose: our possessions, our loved ones and even our youth and our health. Yes, each loss is a blow, but it's also an opportunity. Sam, there's an old Sufi saying that says, 'When the heart weeps for what it's lost, the soul rejoices for what it's found.'"
KAGAN: As they each sign the book, it's clear Dan Gottlieb has found a partner in his grandson, a partner for teaching the world what it means to be different.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: That's our Father's Day gift to you. Proceeds from Gottlieb's book, "Letter to Sam," will go to organizations dedicated to curing autism and other children's charities.
Trouble for tiger woods. He's back on the green, but it was a rough return to the game for Tiger. A live report from the U.S. Open, ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: It was a rough return for Tiger. He's struggling in his first tournament since his father's death.
Larry Smith of CNN Sports joins me live from the U.S. Open in Mamaroneck, New York.
Hello, Lar.
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.
You know, I'm beginning to think this is the Larry Smith jinx. I've done three Masters, three PGA championships, a Ryder Cup and now a U.S. Open. Tiger has yet to win anything, so it must be me, I think.
But the story here quickly is becoming not if Tiger Woods can get an emotional Father's Day victory and his third U.S. Open title in the wake of his father's death several weeks ago, but will he even be playing on Sunday?
Woods, as it stands, is four over par right now for the tournament with -- four over par for the day, I should say, with four holes to play, 10 over for the tournament.
Now the leaders, Steve Stricter, who is on the course, and Colin Montgomerie, who is yet to tee off, are both at one-under par. Now you've got to be at least 10 shots within the lead to make the cut and advance to Saturday and Sunday play. Do the math, one under par, 10 over par -- Tiger right now certainly is in a bit of trouble again, four holes to play, but he's really struggling again today.
Currently, though, he is one shot ahead of Tadd Fujikawa. Fujikawa, he was born premature at birth and was given a 50-50 chance of survival, but now the young Hawaiian is the youngest ever to play in a U.S. open. The 15-year-old shot an 11 over par, 81 in Thursday's opening round.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TADD FUJIKAWA, U.S. OPEN QUALIFIER: It's definitely exciting. I mean, who wouldn't be excited? It's the U.S. Open, and it doesn't matter what age you are, 15, 20, 50, but it's definitely a great thrill for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Well, Tadd Fujikawa, again, 15 years old, youngest ever at the U.S. Open. I was in the media center on Wednesday, standing next to him, didn't know who he as. He's only 5'1" tall, but he can hit the ball 300 yards off the tee.
He's not going to make the cut, but again, another great story for the young amateur from the great state of Hawaii.
Let's go back to you.
KAGAN: Absolutely.
And real quickly, Tiger not the only one struggling on this course. Why is this Winged Foot course so difficult, Larry?
SMITH: Well, it's very difficult because, one, the fairways are very narrow. It's only a par 70. There are only two par five holes, so it's tough to score once you do make a mistake. And the rough is five-inches thick. Imagine not cutting your yard for three or four weeks and then trying to hit a golf ball out of it to a target some 150 yards, 200 yards away. These guys are pros, but it's very, very difficult. Always difficult at the U.S. open, but especially Winged Foot, the way that it plays. We thought going in that par would win it, and that still could win it come Sunday.
KAGAN: All right, you enjoy it. Larry Smith, enjoy the foot at the Open. Thank you.
I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is up next. I'll see you in about 20 minutes with headlines from here in U.S.
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