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CNN Saturday Morning News
Aqua Dots Ordered Off Store Shelves; Benazir Bhutto No Longer Under House Arrest; Broadway Strikes; Children Rescued From Burning House; Rebuilding After a Tornado
Aired November 10, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: I'm sorry.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: You keep wearing your ID badge.
HOLMES: Every single morning.
NGUYEN: We know you work here, T.J.
HOLMES: Well, some people...
NGUYEN: It's pretty apparent. Hello everybody. Hopefully you're more pulled together this morning.
HOLMES: I'm T.J. My ID -- this is Saturday, November 10th here at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia..
NGUYEN: Just take a deep breath.
Good morning, everybody. Hopefully you're having a great one. We do want to thank you for starting your day with us.
First off though, it's your favorite TV shows, right? Now, that Broadway show you planned to see with your family this holiday season all could be knocked off the screen and stage by strikes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lady said that there was a little girl in the house, so I stood out there and I seen her up in the window hitting on the window and stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yeah, trying to get out. And that guy helped save a woman and her three small granddaughters from their burning house, an amazing story. That story here -- they all did make it out alive. We'll have that for you. Also, take a peek at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: It's not even cool. It's not like I got eaten by tigers at the zoo or something.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: OK. So she wasn't eaten by a tiger, but she was hit by a deer running a cross country track meet. Do you think she's embarrassed? Just a little bit. You'll hear from her ahead on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
HOLMES: We are going to start with some stories that are developing this morning. We'll start with this one. Do you remember this story, a children's toy that can turn into the date rape drug. Is that possible? Yes. The Aqua Dots is what we're talking about here and the export of these aqua dots has now been stopped.
Reports out of China say the popular but dangerous toy is no longer being shipped overseas. Millions of packages of Aqua Dots were ordered off the shelves this week. Some kids who actually ate the Aqua Dots became ill. One person even fell into a coma. Researchers found that chemicals in the dots can break down into a form of that so-called date rape drug.
NGUYEN: If you've traveled to New York looking to see a Broadway show, you could be out of luck. The stage hands union is expected to go on strike this morning. The first show that will be affected is the matinee of "The Grinch That Stole Christmas." Other popular shows in trouble are "Jersey Boys," "Spamalot" and "The Color Purple." Some shows, including those off Broadway, will continue though. Stage hands have been working without a contract since July.
HOLMES: All right. We've all seen this thing lift off before. Live picture here of the shuttle "Atlantis." You know this can get to moving up to thousands of miles an hour even while it's in orbit. But it's not going so fast this morning. It's on its way to the launch pad. The shuttle rolling out of its hanger just a couple of hours ago. It's going to take six hours to get to the pad, the fuel assembly.
NGUYEN: It's doing like two miles per hour.
HOLMES: A half a mile an hour.
NGUYEN: Half a mile an hour.
HOLMES: Can you imagine?
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: The space shuttle, this thing that blasts off, it's just going a half a mile an hour. The launch though is scheduled for December 6th.
NGUYEN: Listen to this. An Illinois police officer is now a suspect in his wife's disappearance and investigators say she could be dead. The search continues this morning for 23-year-old Stacey Peterson. She's been missing since October 28th. Friends and family are hoping for a break in the case.
Here is what a family spokesperson had to say on CNN Headline New's "NANCY GRACE SHOW." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAM BOSCO, FAMILY SPOKESWOMAN: It's been mixed emotions. The family has gone through a lot this past week. So I think, like I said, the news out today gives us new hope that we will find Stacey and we hope that this case will progress a little bit faster now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Drew Peterson initially told reporters he thought his wife ran off with another man, but now that he is a suspect, authorities plan to exhume the body of his third wife. They think her death may have been staged as an accidental drowning.
In terms of politics this morning, you know it's serious when mama gets involved.
And mama will say a lot.
HOLMES: Momma will defend her baby. We got some candid comments to tell you about here from one of candidate's moms.
NGUYEN: It's an interview on MSNBC and John McCain's 95-year-old mother took a swipe at his Republican campaign opponent, I guess you'd say, Mitt Romney. Roberta McCain criticized Romney's Mormon faith and linked Mormons to the scandal surrounding the Salt Lake City Olympics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTA MCCAIN, JOHN MCCAIN'S MOTHER: As far as this Salt Lake City thing, he's a Mormon and the Mormons of Salt Lake City had caused that scandal and to clean that up, I -- it's not even -- again, that's just not a subject.
JOHN MCCAIN, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The views of my mother are not necessarily the views of mine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: You could just see that welling up in him as she was saying those words, he's going, oh, my goodness, I can't believe she's saying that.
HOLMES: But you can't tell mama to shut up.
NGUYEN: Oh no, especially when she's 95-years-old. She's earned the right to say whatever she wants.
HOLMES: 95. McCain did later tell the Associated Press that his mother misspoke. That's one way to put it because Romney's religion should not play a role in peoples' decision.
NGUYEN: All right, want to talk about this, very interesting, a planted question and now an apology? An aide to Senator Hillary Clinton admits planting a question during a forum this week. It happened during Clinton's appearance at a bio-diesel plant in Iowa. A student told a college newspaper that she was asked to pose a question about global warming. A spokesman says Senator Clinton had no idea the question had been suggested by her staff. Her campaign says it won't happen again.
HOLMES: All right. You hear some cheers, a few boos in there, as well. We're here to hear a concert. We don't want to hear you talk politics, sir, is what they're telling them. This Democratic John Edwards made a concert cameo. You can hear some of those boos a little more now, along with some of that applause. Some of the audience members really, they just wanted to hear the music. They did not want a political message.
He made a surprise appearance on stage during John Mellencamp's concert last night and take a listen to this. This is in Des Moines, Iowa. While he was talking, he had a tough time (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: I couldn't even hear him talk (INAUDIBLE).
All right, well, CNN political analyst Bill Schneider is on the election express heading to Las Vegas this morning.
HOLMES: Yes, he's keeping an eye on all the big, political stories as well as hitting a crap table or two while he's there. He's going to tell us why the west matters so much in this election cycle. He's going to join us live in our 10:00 a.m. hour from Denver.
NGUYEN: And CNN is your campaign 2008 headquarters. A little bit later this month, GOP presidential hopefuls will square off in a CNN YouTube debate. Post your questions at YouTube.com/republicandebate and of course you can watch it right here on CNN on Wednesday, November 28th. Mark your calendars.
Journalists in Pakistan are protesting the country's week-old state of emergency and media blackout. Also, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is no longer behind barbed wire.
CNN's Zain Verjee is with his via broadband from Islamabad with the latest on the crisis. So what is, get us (ph) up to speed on what is the latest this morning.
ZAIN VERJEE, STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, we spoke to Benazir Bhutto a few hours ago and we asked her in an interview what her next move Betty. She said essentially that she's planning to get protesters out on the street and lead a march from the cultural capital of Pakistan to the capital city, Islamabad. It's about a four hour drive and what she wants to do is hold a seat in Parliament.
She was out and about today. The house arrest order had been lifted. She went to her party headquarters which is where we met her. She also tried to go and see the ousted chief justice who is under house arrest here who's name is (INAUDIBLE). But she was turned away and not allowed to see him.
One issue of great discussion and speculation here in Pakistan is whether or not Benazir Bhutto is in direct contact with General Musharraf negotiating some kind of power sharing deal. We asked her about that directly and here is how she responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENAZIR BHUTTO, FMR. PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER: I have not spoken to him since we decided to part the ways for these public protests. But before we parted ways, I did speak to him. I did say...
VERJEE: Directly on the phone...
BHUTTO: It was several days ago, not recently, not recently, not since we have decided as a party not to have any more contact when the public mode is against any contract with General Musharraf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: I asked her, Betty, if she was really playing a double game here by sitting on the fence, because on the one hand, she's going for protests. On the other hand, she's kind of leaving the door open to negotiate with General Musharraf. She said, OK, she admitted it's partly true, but it's also not. She put it this way. She said she is playing a middle game because she has a different responsibility and that's to bring democracy to Pakistan -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, Zain Verjee following it for us there in Pakistan. Thank you.
HOLMES: Six Americans serving at a NATO security force are dead in an ambush in Afghanistan. The insurgent attack happened while the troops were on foot patrol in eastern Afghanistan. At least one insurgent was killed, as well. The deaths makes 2007 the deadliest year for the U.S. military there with 100 total casualties.
NGUYEN: All right, so do you want to like total (ph) reform in Malaysia? Don't hold your breath. On second thought, the ability to hold your breath might come in handy or maybe a mask and snorkel. Police in Kuala Lampur hauled out the water cannons and tear gas to disperse demonstrators. It is the largest anti-government protest in Malaysia in almost 10 years with an estimated 10 to 30,000 people taking part.
HOLMES: Well, a frightening scenario here. The house on fire and children trapped upstairs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I pushed right through the fence. When I did, he tossed the granddaughter out and Walter caught her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: You heard that right. Tossing the kids out and somebody had to catch them. This dramatic rescue, that story, straight ahead.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And we got an ugly day for you in parts of the northeast. We've got a little bit of light snowfall, some rain, too. As then as soon as this area of low pressure moves offshore, we could have some rough surf to deal with. Coming up, I'll give you the full scoop of what you can expect from your forecast across the nation. It's only moments away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really felt like we were going to die that night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: A tornado nearly wiped Greensburg, Kansas off the map and coming up, I'm going to show you how they're rebuilding in a way that is setting the standard for the rest of the nation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: He didn't waste any time, no time to pop any champagne corks or anything. After getting his new job as attorney general, he got right on to work. Michael Mukasey on the job at the Justice Department. He was sworn in yesterday. There will be a public swearing in held for him next week.
NGUYEN: President Bush is playing host to German chancellor this weekend. Angela Merkel is at the ranch in Crawford and they are expected to discuss several topics, including Iran and Afghanistan.
HOLMES: Also, a nice (ph) landing for Ban Ki Moon, the U.N. secretary general arriving in Antarctica. He is calling for more action on global warming and will host an environmental conference in Indonesia next month. He is the first U.N. leader to visit Antarctica.
NGUYEN: And check this out, England dodged a bullet, heavy flooding expected there never really materialized. Fears were that strong storm surges would be seen as far inland as London. But instead, there was just some minor street flooding. Extreme flood warnings are still in place for Belgium and the Netherlands.
HOLMES: Kind sir. (INAUDIBLE) Good to see you.
NGUYEN: That's your new name.
WOLF: We need to have a nice little talk off the air.
NGUYEN: Feel like running, Reynolds?
WOLF: It's OK. I'm OK with it.
NGUYEN: You just got to grow into it.
WOLF: Pretty much.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: I want to paint this scenario for you though. OK. Imagine, you see a house on fire and then you hear screaming. HOLMES: That's a scary thought there. If it weren't for the courage of complete strangers, three small children might not have survived. Check this story out here from John Allen (ph) of our affiliate WNYT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDRA VASQUEZ, FIRE VICTIM: I'm grateful for my grandchild's life.
JOHN ALLEN, WNYT REPORTER: At about 5:00 Thursday evening, Sandra Vasquez was in her basement doing laundry. When she got back upstairs, she saw her kitchen in flames. She went to the second floor to round up her three grand daughters who are five, three and one. But in the commotion and smoke, she only managed to carry out the baby. She found herself in front of her burning home screaming for help. Three home repairmen working across the street heard her cry.
BRAD NOURSE, REPAIRMAN: So me and Walter ran up on the porch and went to run in the door and a big gust of flames pushed us away so we couldn't go in.
ALLEN: Then Nourse was told by the grandmother that a neighbor, James Carpenter, had gone in and rescued the five-year-old but the three-year-old ran from him. Now the grandmother's boyfriend Leanue Davis just home from work had run into the house trying to get to the three-year-old on the second floor, but they were trapped.
DUSTY NIER, REPAIRMAN: The lady said that there was a little girl in the house. I stood out there and I seen her up in the window hitting on the window and stuff.
NOURSE: When we got over here, I pushed right through the fence and when I did, he tossed the granddaughter out and Walter caught her.
I was probably right about here and I caught her, turned around and sat her down and I no more than sat her down and turned back around and the guy was jumping out and my hands were up like this. When he fell, I caught one arm and a leg and Walter was on the other side and he caught his back and his leg. I don't know how we caught him, but we did.
ALLEN: Davis, even 24 hours later, still in shock. And the hotel room provided by the Red Cross is amazed.
LEANUE DAVIS, BOYFRIEND: I could hear it in their voice, you know, no matter what, they weren't going to let me fall. They were prepared to catch me, you know, every bit of my 205 pound frame.
ALLEN: And so now the family is homeless, but together and alive, thanks to the selflessness of those who heard some desperate cries.
VASQUEZ: I thank them for saving my grandchildren.
(END VIDEOTAPE) NGUYEN: My goodness. It's a good thing that they were there to catch the children. But at this point (ph), I mean what do you do? You got to get out some way and I guess unfortunately if they do have to break a leg or something, at least they're out of the fire.
HOLMES: You can deal with a broken leg. Catching the kids is one thing. But like he said, 205 pounds.
NGUYEN: Two hundred pound man, can you imagine, all right, come on.
HOLMES: We're ready.
NGUYEN: You need two people for that. The family says the whole incident happened before anyone had a chance to call the fire department.
HOLMES: Even though firefighters arrived on the scene within three minutes of that 911 call. By then, the house was engulfed in flames. So nice to hear everybody's OK there.
This story here was just amazing at the time, the devastation here is hard to image. In the blink of an eye, a tornado nearly blows an entire town off the map.
NGUYEN: But now, Greensburg, Kansas, is on the comeback. See how the same element that destroyed the town is being used to rebuild it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Greensburg, Kansas, nearly vanished in the blink of an eye, just flattened by a tornado in the middle of the night. It looked like the end, but it wasn't. I went to see for myself and was just blown away at the extraordinarily steps they're taking to rebuild responsibly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAMELA MUNTZ, TORNADO SURVIVOR: You could hear it just ripping the house away. You could hear the roof going. You could hear things hitting the house.
NGUYEN: May 4th, 2007, an F-5 tornado nearly wiped Greensburg, Kansas off the map.
MUNTZ: I really felt like we were going to die that night.
NGUYEN: In fact, 11 people did die. The rest are left with this -- painful reminders of what the town used to look like.
MUNTZ: She lost her job. The church was gone.
NGUYEN: Pamela Muntz has lived here 32 years. She says the only way to heal is to focus on the future and today, part of her future just arrived. MUNTZ: When it got here today, it became reality. It became reality. It's really here. It's going on the foundation. It's reality.
NGUYEN: And it's emotional for you.
MUNTZ: It is. It is emotional. It is. You don't realize how important your home is. To me, your home is your safe haven and we've not had a safe haven for five months.
NGUYEN: She now finds peace of mind in this customized modular home. It comes already built and it's designed to be energy efficient.
MUNTZ: It's all together! It's one piece now. It's not two pieces!
NGUYEN: That's the beauty of starting over. The tornado wiped the slate clean. Now the town is rebuilding with a conscience. The goal is to go green, create a place that is so environmentally friendly, it sets the standard for communities across the nation.
Where was your basement?
STEVE HEWITT, GREENSBURG CITY ADMINISTRATOR: Right here.
NGUYEN: Steve Hewitt, who also lost his home in the tornado, is the city administrator helping lead the way.
HEWITT: By building efficient homes, you're seeing less energy wasted. By not wasting energy, then you have an opportunity to be friendly to your environment, which is important because we're not building a town. We're not making 10-year decisions. We're making 100-year decisions. We're building a town for our kids, not just for ourselves.
NGUYEN: Which is why students are taking part in the design. Just listen to some of the ideas on the table.
LEVI SMITH, HIGH SCHOOL SOPHOMORE: Geothermal energy, we're talking about wind energy.
TAYLOR SCHMIDT, HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR: Use of a lot of natural lighting and we're going to have -- we're trying to get -- Kansas has the opportunity to -- is giving schools the opportunity to be wind powered and if that came through, it would just be incredible. That we have our own wind turbine and we're completely self-reliant, energy wise.
NGUYEN: It's almost ironic how the same element that destroyed the town is being used to rebuild it. But according to city planner, Stephen Hardy, it just makes sense.
STEPHEN HARDY, BNIM CITY PLANNER: They're really starting to understand that that means money. There is money blowing around in the air, that it's a resource that they can harness. NGUYEN: While still in its early phases, the plan is already creating a buzz that's attracted camera crews from the Discovery Channel. Producer Johnny Gould says Discovery plans a 13-part documentary called "Eco Town."
JOHNNY GOULD, PRODUCER, PILGRIM FILMS: For a lot of these people, green was a color on the wall and now they're learning that building green can be a type of nail or a specific type of siding or a special window that you use that's more energy efficient.
NGUYEN: And that can be more expensive. Part of the challenge is getting people to make the investment now so they'll save later. But when most of the town is still living out of FEMA trailers, there are those who just want their house built the fastest way possible, even if it's not green.
How much of this town is going to be eco friendly?
HEWITT: Well, our goal is to make everything eco-friendly. I think we've got - is that a goal we can reach? I don't know. We're sure going to try.
NGUYEN: And this grandmother of two is determined to do her part.
MUNTZ: I see this house and I'm so excited and I'm not even thinking about starting over. It is a new life and it's going to be good.
NGUYEN: For both her family and a town that's raising the bar on what it means to rebuild responsibly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: What they're doing there is really cool. I mean, geothermal energy, the wind power, the school that they're going to build is going to be done in a couple of years. It's going to be the most eco-friendly schools in the nation. And like he says, he wants the whole town, 100 percent of it, to come back and to come back green.
What I was really surprised by is how much people there new knew about all the different techniques, all the different things that you can do to make your house environmentally friendly. We think of recycling. We think of these buildings, but they're talking about totally rewiring the house, making sure that you don't have just weather stripping, but it's built in a way that you don't need that because it's put together so well that there's nothing that comes out and then therefore, your energy bills aren't as high.
HOLMES: That's a rare opportunity. They really have a chance...
NGUYEN: Start over.
HOLMES: ... to completely -- they can do what they want to do there and they're doing some good stuff. I know we will be back. You'll probably be back.
NGUYEN: Following it.
HOLMES: It's up and running.
NGUYEN: It's going to take a few years, but they are ready for it and they're going to stick it out and make sure they do it right.
HOLMES: Well, here's something, I don't know if this is the way to go. Gas prices kind of high, of course.
NGUYEN: You think?
HOLMES: Gun, if you hand in a gun, you get some gas.
NGUYEN: Like a gas card or something?
HOLMES: A gas cash rebate card of some kind to fill up the tank. You've got that. Josh Levs, is that a good idea?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How about if I just skip over that one and tell you something else that's a little more (INAUDIBLE). We'll see in a minute, but here is what I'm going to do today, something a little safer I guess. We're going to take a look at President Bush's record on this issue. A lot of talk about gas prices, concerns about energy. How do his actions compare to the promises? That's something I'll have coming up. Plus, we got this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think in the history of this state, there's ever been a deer assault.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: You heard him right, assaulted by a deer. We are going to explain this one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: And this just in to CNN. Take a look at this man here, Norman Mailer. You may not know his face but you definitely know his book. He has published 39 books, a very well known and celebrated author, 39 books; one of the most famous books includes a work, "The Naked and the Dead." Another one, as well, as you grew up in New Jersey as well as Brooklyn, he was 84 years old. He died of renal failure. And of course, we'll have much more on the death of Norman Mailer throughout the show today.
HOLMES: I don't know what they're clapping about. Investors are still in a lot of pain these days. Stocks ended another week with another big loss. The Dow fell almost 224 points. The drop came after several major banks warned they would have more losses in the fourth quarter because of the subprime mortgage crises.
NGUYEN: Well, it is a problem that everyone in Congress wants to solve, but no one agrees on how to do it.
HOLMES: This is what we're talking about this time. Its tax relief and the middle class. Jessica Yellin reports for us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA YELLIN, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Ron and Sharon Jakubek are worried. If this tax bill doesn't become law, their lives will change dramatically.
RON JAKUBEK, TAXPAYER: I just feel like the middle class is get can squeezed out.
YELLIN: This year, the alternative minimum tax which was meant to capture money from millionaires could hit some families earning $50,000 a year. And a family of four with a household income of $75,000 could see their tax bill doubled. Democrats have proposed a solution that would help millions of Americans avoid that new tax. Republicans object to the way it's paid for because it raises taxes on others.
REP. TOM REYNOLDS, (R) NEW YORK: You'll hear tax cap, tax fairness, tax equity. I promise you that results right here in this bill as a tax increase.
YELLIN: Democrats say, not so fast. The only ones paying more would be financial bigwigs, managers of major investment organizations like private equity firms and hedge funds.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) HOUSE SPEAKER: The bill is about tax fairness, fiscal responsibility and it's about keeping America competitive.
REP. JIM MCDERMOTT, (D) WASHINGTON: The Republicans are willing to say that 50,000 rich fat cats are more important than 21 million middle class folks in this country.
YELLIN: It's not clear this bill will get through the Senate and the president has vowed to veto it, which is cause for concern to the Jakubeks.
The disagreement over this bill is even the bill is even more intense the Senate. Democrats there are still trying to see if they could find an alternative way to pay for this bill or whether they should pay for it at all.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Capital Hill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So are you running on empty? Police in Cleveland, Ohio, are offering to fill your gas tank for the free, sort of. Just bring an unloaded working handgun to the city's convention center today. The first 450 people to turn over a hand gun will get $100 gas cards. Cleveland offices hope that guns for gas swap will help curve the cities high homicide rate. I can't imagine. Here is my gun, sir. Can you give me some gas?
LEVS: If threats of jail time from a strong D.A. didn't do it, gas will definitely do the trick.
NGUYEN: Gas is pretty high these days.
HOLMES: I don't own a gun, but I'll go and get one and trade it in.
LEVS: How about one year from today we are going to check the homicide rates in Cleveland.
NGUYEN: To see it works. How about one week from today. Why don't we try that?
LEVS: What's going on? We're talking about President Bush's record on gas. This is something we can actually talk about. This is probably a little more immediate. President Bush's real record on gas prices. Let's take a look. Everyone is concerned these days on how incredibly expensive gas is. What we wanted to do today is take a look at what the president promised on that front and compare it to what he's accomplished.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice over): With gas prices soaring, the president often says he's trying to solve energy woes.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For too long, our nation has been dependent on foreign oil.
LEVS: Has he helped relieve that addiction? During his years in office, America's gasoline consumption has continued its climb from 8.6 million barrels a day to 9.2 million barrel a day. That is 385 million gallons everyday and the percentage of foreign oil has jumped. This is striking, given what he said in 2000 when he was running for office, attacking the Clinton administration.
BUSH: Today, we import 66 percent of on our oil. In 20 years on our current path, that figure could be as high at two thirds.
LEVS: Guess what? Under his presidency, it's that high now. The U.S. imports two-thirds of its oil. Critics point out that while he often talks about ...
BUSH: Renewable sources of energy ...
LEVS: His funding requests for renewable energy programs have stayed the same at $1.2 billion per year. Last year the president introduced new programs called the American Competitiveness Initiative. In part, it's steering drivers away from gasoline.
The White House Office of Management and Budget says the president has increased research funding and developed international partnerships to accelerate research and the use of clean energy technologies. Still, when it comes to breaking this addiction, even the president isn't promising much concrete success by the time he leaves office.
BUSH: Reducing gasoline in the United States by 20 percent in the next ten years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: But of course by then there will have been at least one, if not two new administrations who will enact their own policies and they'll be assuming responsibility for doing something about these incredibly sky high gas prices.
NGUYEN: All right. Well let's just broaden out and be fair here. What's the Democrats' record when it comes to energy?
LEVS: Well you know what happened this is one of the many things that is on the list of things the Democrats promised and really hasn't pulled through. What did happen is that there was some success in the Senate over the summer. The House and the Senate have to get together and there it is the success of the Democrats.
Still to this day on their Web site, the Democrats celebrate what they passed in June. But the thing is, it didn't actually turn into a bill that actually passed. I was reading an editorial from Mr. Karl Rove who pointed to the lack of an energy bill as one the key examples of the Democrats he says not achieving much. They say they still will. There's more time this year and last year. But so far nothing.
HOLMES: They're celebrating something that didn't happen?
LEVS: They passed it in the Senate. But in the end, it didn't actually pass all Congress and take place.
NGUYEN: Such is Washington.
LEVS: There you go. That's what we keep talking about keeps happening.
NGUYEN: Thanks, Josh.
Well, the price of oil is within striking distance of $100 a barrel. This is a big number. But what does it mean for you and me? Higher gas prices, larger heating bills, even a more expensive gallon of milk. Guess what? There is no help from Washington in sight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are not going to affect the price at your pump, not going to happen. And it may be a good thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: It is the trouble with oil. We have a special report that is coming up tomorrow night at 10:30 Eastern.
HOLMES: All right. Listen to this one as well. We have lucky people we've been talking about on this show this morning surviving some sticky, icky situations. There is a guy who survived one of the small plane crashes in the woods.
NGUYEN: That's the guy who says in the plain?
HOLMES: I believe that's the guy. The pilot was survived and OK thanks to his cell phone, it helped rescuers find him. Here is the story here in just a second.
NGUYEN: Also, sometimes a high speed chase is justified. We're going to explain this dash cam video. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can coach them and I can teach them to do everything they need to do to run and eat right and stuff, but I can't exactly coach them on what to do if a deer jumps out at you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Oh, come on, coach.
NGUYEN: Yeah. What kind of training do you have?
HOLMES: Coach, come on, now. What do you do? Stuff happens sometimes and some crazy things happen, like a deer assault. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. This is the kind of service we could all use in everything. All right. You walk away from a plane crash. Not only did you survive it. This guy, Merlin Ramsey, while he was still on the phone calling 911, rescuers showed up. He was still on the phone. Isn't that nice?
NGUYEN: That is a quick response.
HOLMES: Can you imagine, if you ordered pizza or something like that. This happened yesterday in North Carolina. Yes, he is a-OK.
NGUYEN: That is good news.
And in Washington, D.C., a train derailment dumped ten loaded coal cars into the river. Officials hope the environmental impact will be minor.
HOLMES: In San Francisco, an oil spill there probably will not get cleaned up. Officials say 58,000 gallon slick spread too much by the time cleanup crews got there. Crews collected about 10,000 gallons but nature will have to deal with the rest.
NGUYEN: Well, O.J. Simpson is getting the weekend off from court, that is. Testimony resumes Tuesday in the preliminary hearing of the alleged armed robbery. Simpson faces 12 counts in the case, including kidnapping. The judge has to decide if there's enough evidence to go to trial. Two of the co-defendants who cut deals with prosecutors will testify next week. It's still unknown if Simpson himself will take the stand.
HOLMES: Once New York City's tough law enforcer, Bernard Kerik now is accused of being a pretty big law breaker himself, he is out on bond after being indicted on corruption, conspiracy and tax evasion charges. Kerik was New York's police chief during 9/11 and he was even mentioned as a possible Homeland Security Secretary.
Prosecutors say he lied on his application for that job. Kerik also allegedly took money from a construction company that may have had ties to organized crime. Questions about Kerik may dull presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani hired Kerik and recommended him for that Homeland Secured post.
NGUYEN: All right. Especially in the news business T.J., there isn't much that we have not seen caught on that police dash cam video, but this is a first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (screaming).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: OK. She's not upset because she got a ticket, had to go to jail. No police brutality, no, none of that. We'll tell you what was going on here. Stick around and see why she was screaming. I guess that maybe gives it away.
NGUYEN: Oh, don't look at the video. Wait until we come back. We'll have that, plus we have this coming.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not even cool. It's not like I got eaten by a tiger at the zoo or something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: OK. So she didn't get eaten by tiger, but she did run into an animal you only see in the woods. You got to see this story straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All righty. So they are calling it a speedy delivery. A baby, nearly born at 95 miles per hour, but instead, a Utah sheriff's deputy pulled over the speeding parent's vehicle and delivered the baby right there on the side on the road.
HOLMES: That's the dash cam, picking up the sounds pretty clearly.
NGUYEN: The baby cam.
HOLMES: The baby cam. The deputy finally pulled them over and the baby was already speaking its first words. NGUYEN: Saying slow down, why are you driving fast?
HOLMES: Stephanie is also a paramedic. The parents say they're grateful for the quick-thinking deputy. So what would the baby's name be? We'll going to tell you in the next hour.
NGUYEN: Rush?
HOLMES: Speedy.
NGUYEN: No. You can't call a kid speedy. We'll tell you, though.
HOLMES: This next story, we always hear about people driving and sometimes they hit a deer. Apparently the word is out and the deer are now attacking human beings. You have to hear this story. A high school cross country runner was actually mowed down by a deer.
NGUYEN: Yeah. And you know how much you don't want to stand out when you're a high schooler, right? The notoriety is turning out to be a bigger pain than hitting the pavement. Jayla Reeves (ph) have the story now from our Louisville, Kentucky affiliate WAV. It's not a big deal. I don't even -- I didn't really like this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EMILY BUCK, RUNNER: It's not even that big of a deal. It's not even cool.
JAYLA REEVES, WAV: It is a day she wants to live down.
BUCK: It's not even that big of a deal. It's not even cool.
REEVES: Young Emily.
BUCK: Buck.
REEVES: Emily Buck, that is her name.
BUCK: And I live on Dearborn Court.
REEVES: Got hit by a deer on a cross county meet for Elizabeth Town High School.
BUCK: Everything hurt, when I hit the ground and I couldn't mover or anything.
REEVES: She weighs just 78 pounds.
BUCK: A lot of people were like, oh, you're so small, and it must have been so much bigger than you. I wasn't looking. I was looking ahead to pass the girl and it jumped out and hit me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never seen a deer that close before, so it was scary.
REEVES: Her teammate Deanna Maurer stopped to help. DEANNA MAURER, TEAMMATE: Yeah. It's a team. I'm not going to leave her once she hurt laying there.
TONY KUKLINSKI, ASST. CROSS COUNTRY COACH: I can coach them and teach them to do everything they need to do to run and eat right and stuff, but I can't exactly coach them on what to do if a deer runs out at you.
REEVES: Assistant coach Tony Kuklinski is use to seeing injuries.
KUKLINSKI: A swollen ankle, or break leg.
REEVES: But not this kind.
BUCK: It is not even cool. It's not like I got, like, eaten bay tiger at the zoo or something.
KUKLINSKI: I don't think in the history of this state there's ever been a deer assault.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And the funny thing is, she said, you know, it's not even cool. You're on CNN because you got hit by a deer. That's pretty cool.
So Emily's team did make it to the state finals. They're competing today in Lexington. Hopefully the deer are at bay.
HOLMES: And they will be looking out for wild animals as she's running.
NGUYEN: That cough.
HOLMES: I can't get this worked out. I need some help.
NGUYEN: A good hit in the back, maybe.
HOLMES: You look for any excuse to hit me.
NGUYEN: You betcha.
HOLMES: All right. Well running from deer to running in high gear. Check it out. This crazy car collection includes a shoe car. There's a banana car in there.
NGUYEN: Not all of them are oddities. Like the 1912 Buick that goes a little too fast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you actually drive it around?
PATRICK HOPKINS, CAR COLLECTOR: All the time. This car here has about 172,000 miles on it. Seventy one miles an hour on the freeway in my speedster. The cop wasn't too happy, but hey, we were friends in the end and it got kicked out of court and the ticket is framed in my garage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: How is that possible, 71 miles per hour in a car from 1912? Does he have a souped up engine on it?
HOLMES: How would you do that? That car is priceless.
NGUYEN: The whole car collection including the shoe and the banana is worth $1 million.
HOLMES: Is there another shot of the shoe? How about the shoe? We had a story once before about people being buried in weird coffins. It was a shoe. But Betty here said she wanted to be buried in a stiletto.
NGUYEN: No, no, we have to tell the whole story. They were making coffins out of different things. What did you say you want to be buried in?
HOLMES: I can't remember.
NGUYEN: A Twizzlers or something like that. Because that is what you eat all the time.
HOLMES: Anyway, you have heard this before folks, haven't heard this from you in a while, Betty.
NGUYEN: Which is?
HOLMES: I've got your back.
NGUYEN: It's understood. That's why you don't hear it.
HOLMES: Do people mean it?
NGUYEN: It is true, you'll meet an army lieutenant who did. When two of his men went down in Iraq, he laid down his own life to save them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: In California, efforts are under way to help Iraq war and other veterans find jobs. The state is sponsoring a jobs fair next week in Long Beach and its theme this year? Hire a hero, hire a vet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DWIGHT RADCLIFF, U.S. VETERANS INITIATIVE: The veterans have the skills. We just need to create that for the outcome to be employment, and significant employment.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: The California Development Department says one of its goals is to help vets transition the skills they learned in the military to the civilian workforce.
NGUYEN: All right. Listen to this story, two of his men fall under enemy fire, but there was no on way Lieutenant Walter Bryan Jackson was going to let them die.
HOLMES: The army calls it extraordinary heroism. CNN's Barbara Starr has one of the ultimate got your back stories.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAPT. ERIC STAINBROOK, WOUNDED IRAQ VETERAN: I really thought I was going to pass away. I was in a lot of blood. And here was Lieutenant Jackson overtop of me. I thought he was going to be the last person I saw alive.
MASTER SGT. DAVID SAPP, WOUNDED IRAQ VETERAN: I'm lying on the ground, in and out of consciousness. And Lieutenant Jackson came running to go my aid, started administering first aid and firing at the enemy to get them to redirect their fire away from me.
BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Two soldiers gravely wounded, reunited with Lieutenant Walter Bryan Jackson, the officer who risked his own life and was wounded himself trying to save them.
LT. WALTER BRYAN JACKSON, IRAQ WAR HERO: And I thought to myself, this is not the way I want to go out, you know, because I'm laying there prepared to die, essentially.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States of America has awarded the Distinguished Service Cross to Second Lieutenant Walter B. Jackson.
STARR: Jackson has received the Distinguished Service Cross for what the army says is extraordinary heroism in Anbar Province in September 2006. There is an unshakeable bond amongst three men who thought they would die together on an Iraqi street.
JACKSON: Basically, I was thinking those two guys were the last two people I would see, so I was going to do whatever I could to help them out. So I shot as much as I could until I was out of ammunition. Then I went to reload and I didn't have the strength left to put that magazine back in the weapon.
STARR: Jackson refused medical treatment until his men were safe.
JACKSON: I knew I was wounded, but there were more important things to worry about, like the two guys with me that were much worse off.
STARR: The Distinguished Service Cross he now wears is the nation's second highest award for heroism in action. But these three combat veterans say it was surviving together that is the most important thing.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Hello and good morning everybody. From the CNN Center right here in Atlanta this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, thanks for being with us. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: Hello everybody, I'm T.J. Holmes.
Up first here, the name Peterson, woman is missing, believed to be dead, her husband a suspect. I that case probably sounds familiar. But is not the Peterson case you are thinking about. This time the husband is a cop, hear the twists and turns of this story.
NGUYEN: Also, need some money? Why not sell a kidney. That is a solution for people in one country. Can you guess where many of their buyers live?
HOLMES: Look at this here. Anybody hear me? You got me? What do you think this conversation is about? Honey, I'm OK but had a little accident. Yeah. Crashed my plane into the woods.
NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness.
HOLMES: We've got this story ahead on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
NGUYEN: But we are watching new developments this morning in the crisis is Pakistan. Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is out from behind barbed wire and planning more protests. Bhutto was allowed to leave her home today after a virtual house arrest was lifted. CNN's Zain Verjee interviewed Bhutto and asked whether she has been in contact with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENAZIR BHUTTO, FMR. PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER: I have not spoken to him since we decided to part ways for these public protests. But before we parted ways, I did speak to him. I did say...
VERJEE: When did you speak to him, directly on the phone?
BHUTTO: It was several days ago, not recently. Not recently, not since we have decided as a party not to have any more contact. The public mood is against any contact with General Musharraf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, it has been a week since President Musharraf imposed a state of emergency in Pakistan. The office of the attorney general said today that the emergency declaration would be lifted within one month.
HOLMES: As we know, a whole lot of the war coverage focuses so much on Iraq. But yes, Afghanistan still a dangerous, dangerous place. Here's evidence of that. Six U.S. service members killed Friday in an ambush in eastern Afghanistan. The U.S. death toll in that country now at 100 for the year, making it the deadliest since fighting began there in 2001. That echoes an identical milestone reached this week in Iraq. The Pentagon says 854 American service members have died there so far there this year, making 2007 the deadliest year there yet.
NGUYEN: Well, the export of those toy Aqua Dots, I'm going to show it to you. The export of that has been stopped. Here's why. Reports out of China say the popular but dangerous toys are no longer being shipped overseas. Millions of packages of Aqua Dots were ordered off the shelves this week. Some kids who ate those dots became ill and even one of them fell into a coma. Researchers found that chemicals in the dots can break down into a form of the so-called date rape drug.
HOLMES: From person of interest to an official suspect. Drew Peterson is getting a much closer work from Chicago police as his wife's disappearance morphs from a missing person investigation into a suspected homicide case. Stacy Peterson's family members and friends hope it means they'll get some answers soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAM BOSCO, PETERSON FAMILY SPOKESWOMAN: It has been mixed emotions. The family has gone through a lot this past week. So, I think, like I said, the news out today gives us new hope that we will find Stacy and we hope that this case will progress a little bit faster now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A judge has also signed an order to exhume the body of Drew Peterson's third wife, who was found dead in a bathtub in 2004. At the time her death was ruled an accident.
NGUYEN: Well, O.J. Simpson is getting the weekend off from court that is. Testimony resumes Tuesday in the preliminary hearing into the alleged armed robbery. Simpson faces 12 counts in the case, including kidnapping. The judge still has to decide if there's enough evidence to go to trial. Two of the co-defendants who cut deals with prosecutors will testify next week. It is still unknown if Simpson himself will take the stand.
HOLMES: He was once New York City's top law enforcer. Now he's being accused of breaking the law himself. Bernard Kerik is who we're talking about here. He is out on bond after being indicted on corruption, conspiracy, and tax evasion charges. Kerik was New York's police chief during 9/11. He was even mentioned as a possible homeland security secretary. Prosecutors say he lied on his application for that job. Questions about Kerik may dog presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani. He hired Kerik and also recommended him for the homeland security post.
NGUYEN: Well, it was definitely a down week on Wall Street. The Dow fell nearly 224 points, down more than 4 percent. HOLMES: And oil is a big part of the problem. There's above- average supply, below-average demand, so what's the problem here? Why is the price of gas still going up? CNN's Allan Chernoff lays it all out for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prices at the pump are soaring yet again, the national average for regular gas now approaching $3 a gallon. Is there a shortage of gas? Not at all. It's crude oil's rapid climb to nearly $100 a barrel say energy experts, that's driving the price of gasoline as well as home heating oil. Yet there's no shortage of crude oil either, say fuel distributors like David (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have more than enough oil.
CHERNOFF: In fact, the Department of Energy reports oil supplies are above average for this time of year and demand - it's actually declined in the past couple of weeks.
(on-camera): Energy analysts say crude is rising because of fear there might be a disruption in the flow of imported oil. The last time there was a significant cut in foreign supply was when the U.S. invaded Iraq. Back then, the price of oil hit $35 a barrel, a fraction of today's price.
(voice-over): Andrew Lebow has been an energy trader for nearly three decades. Never, he says, have there been so many investors bidding up oil. Is there any way that the supply/demand situation justifies oil at this level?
ANDREW LEBOW, SR. VP, MF GLOBAL: No, I don't think so. And I think we've seen a tremendous inflow of speculative money coming into not only the oil markets, but commodities in general.
CHERNOFF: Investors are putting hundreds of millions of dollars into the energy market.
SAM GREER, EXEC VP, MERCANTILE EXCHANGE: So, now it's as acceptable to invest in let's say crude oil or gasoline as it is to invest in IBM.
CHERNOFF: And many traders are embracing the old Wall Street rule -- the trend is your friend. The trend for oil has been up and it's been paying handsome dividends.
FADEL GHEIT, ENERGY ANALYST: The largest financial institutions control oil price or dictate the direction of oil price much more than any oil company.
CHERNOFF: Of course, the trend could quickly change, leading traders to bail out of oil. But for now, a major reason we're paying more at the pump is that big investors have been striking black gold in the oil trade.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, a race against time is under way along the shore of San Francisco Bay. Wildlife rescue teams are trying to save dozens of sea birds. They've been tarred by the worst oil spill in the San Francisco Bay in nearly two decades. Almost 60,000 gallons of heavy fuel leaked into the bay on Wednesday. It happened after a ship struck a tower off the bay bridge. The spill closed more than a dozen beaches. Oil skimmers and shore crews are mopping up the damage.
HOLMES: And phew, a close one, heavy flooding expected in England never really materialized. That is a good thing. There were fears that strong storm surges would be seen as far inland as London, but instead, there's just some minor street flooding. Extreme flood warnings are still however in place for Belgium as well as the Netherlands.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's get back to the U.S., shall we, and find out what the weather is like around here. Reynolds, it's got you all choked up. What's going on?
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Well, "Atlantis" is on the move the morning. Check it out. Yes, this is a live shot. I know it doesn't look like it's moving. We're going to tell you why.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: Very slowly. The massive space shuttle is heading to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center. "Atlantis" is scheduled to launch December 6th and it will be bringing more parts to the international space station. But it takes about six hours, T.J., to move the shuttle and its entire fuel tank assembly to the pad. Why, because it's only going about three miles per hour.
HOLMES: It's going to take a while.
NGUYEN: It's going to be a slow creep.
HOLMES: Let's watch it until it gets there.
NGUYEN: Watch it live whole time. No.
HOLMES: We'll wait until it takes off and we'll watch that live.
A party at the Crawford ranch this weekend, not really. President Bush is having company, however. German Chancellor Angela Merkel in town for talks. She flew in Friday. The two are expected to discuss the nuclear situation in Iran, also going to discuss the state of affairs in Afghanistan where Germany has a little over 3,000 troops.
NGUYEN: He faces a tough job ahead and he's already at work. Retired Federal Judge Michael Mukasey is officially the nation's new attorney general. Mukasey was sworn in during a low-key ceremony at the Justice Department yesterday and got right down to business. A more formal ceremony is planned for next week. Mukasey replaces Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He resigned in the fallout over the U.S. attorney firings.
HOLMES: This morning one of the giants of American literature dead. Pulitzer prize-winning author Norman Mailer died today at a New York hospital of kidney failure. He was 84 years old. Mailer's 1948 book "The Naked and the Dead" became a classic followed by many other literary master works. Norman Mailer dead at the age of 84.
Still to come here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING -- top exports from the Philippines include bananas, furniture and human organs.
NGUYEN: The government just might make that last one legal. Can you believe it? We're going to take you to the Philippines for the latest. The story is just minutes away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Take a few of these quick hit stories we have for you this morning. Up first here, take a look, battered but not broken. A man crashed his small plane in the woods in North Carolina. He appears to be just fine, standing next to the wreckage, talking on his cell phone. I would assume that call is to rescuers to tell them that, hey, I crashed my plane, can you come pick me up?
There is movement in the writers' strike. It's on the picket lines, though. A big crowd gathered outside of 20th Century Fox studios. No new negotiations even planned at this point, so get used to not seeing your new shows.
And in the New York area, you got tickets to a big night on Broadway? It ain't happening. While the writers' strike is going on, there's another one going on on Broadway. Most of Broadway is shut down now because the stage hand union is expected to begin their strike this morning. We'll check in live on Broadway coming up in our 10:00. Eastern hour.
NGUYEN: That's so unfortunate because it's one thing when you turn on the television. You can't watch your show. You're not really out any money, but a lot of people spend a lot of money and plan well in advance to see one of those Broadway shows.
HOLMES: So much fun to go to a show there. They get all this worked out.
NGUYEN: They may just want to buy a movie ticket or something. I don't know.
All right. Listen to this. If you try to sell one of your vital organs here in the U.S., you know what that will get you?
HOLMES: A prison sentence?
NGUYEN: Yeah, a free ticket to jail. HOLMES: But overseas, one government wants to make it a legitimate business. CNN's Hugh Rimington found out all about this one for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUGH RIMINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the desperate shanties of the Philippines, the scars of a strange epidemic. Like so many others here, these men have sold a kidney.
"I just did it because, you know, my family needs the money," says Ricky Mugagis (ph) and I didn't have a job, so I just gave my kidney away. Each received about $2,000 U.S. dollars, eight times his annual income. It is illegal to sell a kidney in the Philippines, but it is not illegal to donate one. Nor is it against the law to receive a gift from the grateful recipient. Into that loophole falls a thriving trade in human tissue.
One village official gas told us that in these few streets alone, hundreds of people, most of them men, have already sold a kidney. Agents, illegal middlemen, broker the deals for around $1,000 for each donor they find, but the donors we found are still poor. (INAUDIBLE) built a house with his money, but it burned down. No insurance in these streets. Fire also claimed Ricky Vilagas (ph) kidney cash before he'd even recovered from the operation.
Joy Ibanez was 19 when he sold his kidney to help his sick mother. His share of the money was gone, he says, in three months. The recipients of their kidneys were foreigners, in two cases, Chinese, the other, a Saudi. Some Philippine officials want to change the law now to make it easier, not harder, for people from around the world to get hold of their peoples' organs. Do you believe there is a black market in kidneys for foreigners?
DR. REYNALDO LESACA, PHILIPPINE NATL KIDNEY INST.: Yes. And that's precisely the reason why we have come up with this program.
RIMINGTON: Dr. Reynaldo Lesaca is the head of HOPE, the Human Organ Preservation Effort at the Philippine National Kidney Institute. He's drafting a new law that could be in effect early next year making healthy human kidneys an official Philippine export. Do you think at the end of it, it will free up, make simpler the process by which Filipinos can donate kidneys?
LESACA: I believe so. I believe so.
RIMINGTON: It becomes an accepted part of the economy.
LESACA: Yes. That's correct. That's correct.
RIMINGTON: With the rich world aging, but with many young poor Filipinos, the confronting question is this -- are children being raised for little more purpose here than as incubators of organs marked for sale? Dr. Lesaca says medical ethicists here approve, but there are many others around the world where selling an organ is almost always illegal who oppose the movement. Lesaca insists his main concern is for the donors.
LESACA: We're getting better, more donor protection, which in the past worldwide has been a big problem. They're just pushed aside, exploited, not taken care of.
RIMINGTON: All three of these men now tell me they have regrets about selling their kidneys. I tell people it is a sin against God," says Ricky Valegas. "It is karma says (INAUDIBLE). Something is given to you by God and you sell it, that's why we lost everything.
Hugh Riminton, CNN, Manila.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And there is more to this story. Buying body parts is a booming business around the world, did you know? "National Geographic's" Lisa Ling goes inside the dark world of transplant tourism. She'll join us at 10:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: We never know what to expect sometime when the dash cam video from police cars.
NGUYEN: We've seen a lot.
HOLMES: All kinds of stuff. But we got one here that this one has a little something different.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(Screaming)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That sends a chill down my spine. OK. Why is she screaming? Well, this poor woman is giving birth on the other side of the highway there. Stick around for more on the speedy delivery.
LEVS: That'll stop traffic. Josh Levs at the dot com desk now. It's that old story, guy sees girl on subway, guy draws sketch of her, puts it on the Internet, then he finds her in New York. Only in this case, it actually happened, apparently. I've got that coming up right here on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. We're going to talk now about going above and beyond. You hear the screams in the background?
HOLMES: Kind of creepy.
NGUYEN: Hold on, though. One police officer is actually getting kudos for those screams.
HOLMES: It came in the middle of a high-speed chase with some very special and interesting circumstances. More now from Sandra Yee (ph) of our affiliate KSL in Salt Lake City. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDRA YEE, KSL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Call it a speedy delivery. Baby Claire was born in the passenger seat of her dad's car.
YOUNG JEON, FATHER: I'm not going to sell this car.
YEE: Delivered not by a doctor but by a deputy.
DEP. CORY COX, DAVIS CO. UTAH SHERIFF'S DEPT: Did a quick exam, I had enough time to put on examine gloves and it was time to deliver the baby.
YEE: It happened early Monday morning. Deputy Cox was running radar along highway 89 when he caught the man going 95 miles an hour.
COX: My suspicion was that it was a medical emergency from the git-go because they had their emergency hazards on, driving down the road.
YEE: He followed the car for eight miles before the driver pulled over.
JEON: Then I opened the window, hey, sorry, my wife's going to have a baby. We got to go. We got to go.
YEE: The couple was headed to McCady (ph) hospital in Ogden. They had left their home in West Jordan when Yeon Hong began having contractions. Past Farmington, her water broke.
YEON HONG, MOTHER: I think I was -- I scream a little so he was -- I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying. So, he was -- I make him more speed up.
YEE: When the deputy pulled the car over, the baby was crowning.
You can hear Hong screaming in the deputy's dash camera video. Only three minutes after the traffic stopped, the baby was born. And the proud parents only have grateful words for their new hero.
JEON: He did a really good job professionally.
HONG: I want to say thank you. Yeah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: He did do a great job. But she said she was screaming a little. Come on. We heard it, lady. You were screaming a lot more than that, for good reason, of course.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Now, the disappointing thing about the story for us is the baby's name. Normally you give the baby name maybe after the deputy or after the situation. Cory Cox was the deputy's name. Or the baby would be called rush or speedy or something like that, right? Instead, the baby was named Claire. That's a nice name. It's fine. It's fine. But don't take offense. We were just hoping for something a little more exciting.
HOLMES: Yeah. TV friendly. All right? Josh.
LEVS: Maybe they can be a godfather or maybe a future child ...
NGUYEN: Or maybe we can just come up with a nickname for the child.
LEVS: From now on, anytime we talk about this child, we will just call it whatever we wish to call the child. Sorry, Claire.
HOLMES: We will turn now to a love at first sight. You all believe in it?
NGUYEN: I do, yeah.
LEVS: It can happen. It can happen.
HOLMES: A great story.
LEVS: This is a pretty good story. It's convinced me. It's interesting. Here's what's going on basically. This guy saw a girl on a subway in New York and he says he completely fell in love with her, only it's straight out of a movie, he didn't get to talk to her before they both got off the train. So what did he do? He's an illustrator so he drew this picture of her, put it up online and ...
HOLMES: Come on.
NGUYEN: Not realistic looking.
LEVS: Wondering what she was wearing. Like she had a flower in her hair. She had tights. He said the name of the train she was on. He was hoping that those clues would get him somewhere. Here's the thing though. This happened in a movie, but this guy from *NSYNC (INAUDIBLE) he put the pictures all over the place. So you got to wonder is it life imitating art, is it reality, what really happened here, but the fact is, in the end he met her. They say they're happy.
NGUYEN: Wait, wait. You kind of resemble -- is that you, Josh?
LEVS: Should I be offended? Trust me, so not me. Should I be offended T.J.? Was that a compliment?
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE)
LEVS: Anyway, it's at nygirlofmydreams.com. It's a fun site. You can check it out, see what he put on there and it certainly is worth a look.
NGUYEN: That's what guys do when they see a girl they like right. They just go home and they do a real sketch of her.
LEVS: T.J. has done that several times.
NGUYEN: ... take his notepad.
LEVS: He would go speak to her. (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: All right. Chocoholics out there, we've got something for you here.
NGUYEN: But you better have some deep pockets along with that chocolate craving. The price for this chocolate in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So, it is official. The world's most expensive dessert is the $25,000 frozen chocolate by the restaurant Serendipity Three in New York City. So says the "Guinness Book of World Records."
HOLMES: There is (ph) a lot of ingredients. They're not cheap of course, but the real cost is in the presentation. This confection is dished up on a golden diamond goblet with a gold spoon topped with shavings from a luxury truffle. What is the point?
NGUYEN: And who's going to buy that?
HOLMES: Somebody with too much money to spend, more than us, Betty.
NGUYEN: This is true, an extra sweet tooth.
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