Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
Obama Announces End to Iraq War; GOP Presidential Hopefuls React to End of Iraq War; 5-Year-Old Jahessye Shockley Missing Since October 11th; Where's the Media Attention for Jahessye?; Apps That Work At Finding Work For You; Conrad Murray Defense to Step Up; The Future of Policing; Reunited after 22 Years
Aired October 22, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, SATURDAY MORNING: Good Saturday morning, everybody.
And the president of Iran says he loves you, but he has a problem with your government. That's just part of an exclusive interview with CNN.
Also, $10,000 for making a single phone call? Yep. An NFL player fined by the league. So wait until you hear who he called and maybe you'll think the call was worth it.
Also, you know, they make an app for just about everything out there. So many apps to keep up with, but we got one for you this morning that you might really want, an app that actually earns you money.
Welcome to this CNN SATURDAY MORNING October 22nd, 8:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, Georgia, 7:00 a.m. in Fayetteville, Arkansas, 5:00 a.m. for you folks in Las Vegas, wherever you may be, I'm glad you're here. I'm T.J. Holmes.
Let's start here at the top of the hour with the news we got from the president. The war in Iraq now has an expiration date, New Year's Eve. President Obama says the troops will be home for the holidays and the war in Iraq will be over.
The end of one of the most controversial wars in U.S. history comes after almost nine years.
You'll remember the shock and awe, you'll remember the surge. This all started in March of 2003. The Department of Defense estimates they spent more than $700 billion just on "Operation Iraqi Freedom" and "Operation New Dawn" in Iraq and 4,400 U.S. service members have died in the war; another 30,000 have been wounded.
Listen now to the president making the announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over. Over the next two months our troops in Iraq, tens of thousands of them, will pack up their gear and board convoys for the journey home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Our Athena Jones is at the White House for us and we showed a part of what the president had to say. He had a whole lot more to say.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, and one of the points the president made over and over, at least twice in that announcement yesterday in the briefing room and that his aides made later is that he's fulfilling a promise. He's keeping a commitment. He's doing what he said all along he was going to do.
You'll remember, looking back to the Democratic primary last time around, his opposition, candidate Obama's opposition to the war in Iraq was really what set him apart. He had called it -- years before he called it a dumb war, a rash war. And during his campaign, he argued that we needed to put the focus back on Afghanistan and that the focus on the war in Iraq had taken the ball off of the real war where our efforts should be focused over in Afghanistan.
And so, yesterday he came out near the top of his speech, he said as a candidate, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a close. Let's listen more of what he had to say in the weekly address this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Iraq, we succeeded in our strategy to end the war. Last year, I announced the end of our combat mission in Iraq. We already removed 100,000 troops, and Iraqi forces have taken full responsibility for the security of their own country. Thanks to the extraordinarily sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, the Iraqi people have a chance to forge their own future. And now, the rest of our troops will be home for the holidays.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: And now one thing I should mention, the president didn't say, not in his speech yesterday in the press briefing room here at the White House and not in his weekly address this morning, he didn't talk about the fact that it was an agreement, security agreements reached and negotiated and signed by the Bush administration in 2008 that set this December 31st, 2011, end date for the end of our military presence there.
And so, in some ways he's taking credit for fulfilling a promise, but he didn't change what had already been agreed to by the previous administration, T.J.
HOLMES: Yes, important to point out there. Also the president, of course, gave us news, a lot of people welcome news to a lot of service members, a lot of their families, but it also came with a lot of criticism and probably from some expected places.
JONES: Well, exactly and so you have a lot of Democrats saying it's a great decision. They're applauding the decision, saying that they've been waiting for this. On the Republican side, though, you had a lot of people expressing concern like Senator John McCain. I want to read to you from his pretty strong statement yesterday. He said yesterday, "Today marks a harmful and sad setback for the United States and the world. I respectfully disagree with the president. This decision will be viewed as a strategic victory for our enemies in the Middle East, especially the Iranian regime which has worked relentlessly to assure a full withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Iraq. It's a consequential failure of the Obama administration which has been more focused on withdrawing from Iraq than succeeding in Iraq since it came into office as well as the Iraqi government."
And so, Senator McCain there is expressing some of the concerns of not just Republicans, actually. The bottom line is that there is still violence going in Iraq, even though it's greatly diminished from several years ago. There is a concern that Iran's influence will grow as U.S. troops pull out.
But on the Democratic side, people want to remind everyone that this was a Bush administration agreement that the president is carrying -- carrying through. But it does remain to be seen what happens after we pull out, whether Iraq does become more unstable at least in the short term -- T.J.
HOLMES: Athena Jones for us, thank you, as always.
And as we just mentioned, a lot of that reaction that is coming in, I want you to listen to some of it now. A lot of people glad that this is coming now and some are saying it's long overdue and other people looking ahead to Afghanistan now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's wonderful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) that you are fixing to go back home and, you know, you get to reconnect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that there is a time and a place for war and I wasn't opposed to it when we are first there. I am happy to hear that they'll be coming home to their families.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good to get them home. We just need to get them back from Afghanistan, now. It's basically transferring from one war to the next. The point is to get everybody back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: More reaction to give you now, this reaction, quick and predictably partisan from GOP presidential hopefuls.
Let me tell you what Mitt Romney had to say. Quote, "President Obama's astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in Iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of American men and women. The unavoidable question is whether this decision is the result of a naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude in negotiations with the Iraqi government." Similar reaction from Texas Governor Rick Perry saying quote, "I'm deeply concerned that President Obama is putting political expediency ahead of sound military and security judgment by announcing an end to troop level negotiations and a withdrawal from Iraq by year's end."
Perry went on to say that America's commitment to the future of Iraq is important to U.S. national security interests and should not be influenced by politics.
And yet another voice weighing in on the withdrawal plan, this one from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, spoke exclusively with our Fareed Zakaria just a few hours after President Obama's announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, PRESIDENT IRAN (through translator): I think you should have done it sooner, maybe seven or eight years ago and they could avoid killing so many Iraqi people or Americans as well. I think they should have done it much earlier.
But the people and the Iraqi government did not accept the increased presence of the Americans. The Iraqi government is independent and sovereign. They should decide how to provide training for their military personnel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And you can see the rest of Fareed Zakaria's exclusive interview with the Iranian president tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. That's right after "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley. She has a special interview with the Vice President Joe Biden at 9:00 and again, Fareed Zakaria following at 10:00 Eastern time.
We want to turn now to Libya and more on the death of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi. We have to warn you here, the video you're about to see is graphic, but we want to explain the story. His body being held now in cold storage and in particular a meat locker. People are actually lining up to see it.
Gadhafi's burial right now is on hold. The United Nations and two major human rights groups want an investigation to find out exactly how he died. NATO says it will scale back operations in Libya by the end of the month.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says a U.S. drone was part of the attack on Gadhafi's convoy. And his death and what it means for Libya's future topped President Obama's weekly address. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: In Libya, our brave pilots and crews helped prevent a massacre, saved countless lives and give the Libyan people the chance to prevail. Without putting a single U.S. service member on the ground, we achieved our objectives. Soon our NATO mission will come to a successful end even as we continue to support the Libyan people and people across the Arab world who seek a democratic future. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, the president's supporters say the Libyan conflict, the successful military operations that killed Osama bin Laden and more recently radical Muslim cleric Anwar al Awlaki actually bolstered the president's credentials when it comes to foreign policy.
So people are looking ahead to reelection and this all has to be good for the president's reelection hopes. The foreign policy right now just doesn't rate that high with potential voters. A new CNN/ORC poll, the economic issues are number one, two and three on the list of critical issues and health care you put that in there and you can make it all the top four issues have to do something with the economy. Foreign policy actually ranks tenth on the list.
Ten minutes past the hour now, let's say good morning to Reynolds Wolf talking a little tropical weather this morning.
Hello, sir.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Reynolds, thank you. We'll see you here in just a moment.
Also in just a moment we're going to continue by telling you a story about a missing child. No, not that one that you may be thinking about, another missing child, been missing for 11 days now from Glendale, Arizona. But her grandmother says there's a reason you haven't heard her story.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twelve minutes past the hour now on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
We want to take a moment now to talk about the disappearance of two little girls. One of them 11-month-old Lisa Irwin on the left side of your screen. You've been hearing plenty about her story.
But on the right of your screen, 5-year old Jahessye Shockley. The cases aren't related even though they are awfully similar in some ways. Some are openly critical that one of the two stories is getting more attention than the other. We'll get to that in just a moment.
But first, this week police say cadaver dogs smelled something in baby Lisa's Missouri home. They say it was a hit, you know, when a dog actually smells something, the scent of a body. Police did a new search of the home after that. No one has been charged in that case.
Then in Glendale, Arizona, tonight there will be a candlelight vigil for 5-year-old Jahessye Shockley. Family members say she wandered out of her home while her older siblings were supposed to be watching her. Police say that finding Jessie right now is their number one priority. They are still investigating and following up on hundreds of leads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. BRENT COOMBS, GLENDALE, ARIZONA POLICE DEPT.: We have not named any suspects in the case. We do have many persons of interest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, volunteers have been helping search the streets for Jahessye, but her grandmother thinks the case isn't getting enough national attention for a very specific reason. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHIRLEY JOHNSON, GRANDMOTHER: I believe it's because she's a little black kid.
ANITA, SEARCH VOLUNTEER: We're trying to get national attention. We're trying to get this story just like they're telling their story down in Kansas? We want the same thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, joining me now is Gaetane Borders. She's head of Peas in their Pod, a group that helps families of missing minority children.
Good to have you back here. Unfortunately, we're talking about another missing child here.
But to the family's point and the grandmother's in particular, does she have one?
GAETANE BORDERS, PEAS IN A POD: She definitely has a point. I think everybody knows baby Lisa's face and picture. They know her name. She's definitely a household name. But most people don't know Jahessye's name, Jahessye Shockley, and she's been missing for about the same amount of time and the stories are quite similar.
HOLMES: Awfully similar. What was your reaction when you heard the circumstances of how baby Jahessye out in Arizona, how she went missing?
BORDERS: I was highly disturbed and especially the fact that she's been missing for so long is an area of concern for me as well. The fact that she was being watched by her older siblings and no one knows where she went. She vanished out of thin air.
HOLMES: Does it help or hurt, everybody would want to find this child no matter what, but when a family member comes out and says something like that, does it help the case in that it gets the attention, here we are talking about it, or does it actually turn some people off and think, you know what, of course, it has nothing to do with race?
BORDERS: And there are people that would say that, that there is no issue with race when it comes to missing kids. We know that it's different. Peas in a Pod knows that it's different and any parent of a child that's missing of color understands the difference. I feel it's wonderful that the parents and the families have reached out and it's just starting to get some national coverage thanks to you and your team which is wonderful but that's not the case for most children of color.
HOLMES: Part of this and we talked about this before and a police officer told me this out in Oakland one time. He said sometimes a white middle-class family is a little more media savvy than maybe a poor minority family and here we are with, she took it upon herself to almost call out to media.
Do you have to do that sometimes, be media savvy?
BORDERS: You have to definitely reach out to the media. You have to court the media. In Jahessye's case one thing is that she's gotten a lot of local coverage for herself, but the national coverage has not been there. Since she's been gone for so many days, there's no telling where she is.
So it's really important for people not only in Arizona to know that she's missing, but California, Vermont, New Mexico, everybody.
HOLMES: How do you explain and Gaetane, why? It's hard to say this, we don't value in some way little minority child the same as a little white baby?
BORDERS: Well, I mean, there are undercurrents of, you know, bias there, clearly bias does exist. I think we'd be fooling ourselves to act as though race does not play a factor in our nation. It does.
And the fact that children that are not of color, Caucasian children get more coverage that they're talked about more, there's a reason for that and, yes, race is a reason.
HOLMES: Are we not talking about this -- even me getting that question out was almost uncomfortable for me. Are we uncomfortable to face that bias and what we may have and just hate to admit it? Do we have to have that conversation, is that the only way this is going to change?
BORDERS: We've got to talk about it and we're starting to talk about it more. But it needs to continue. To add to that, T.J., not only do we talk about it, we've got to do something about it.
So I'm glad we're at the point where we're talking about it and yes, it can be uncomfortable. There's people out there that say, Gaetane, you're just out there with this. You are crazy. There's no bias, and there's a lot of people that agree. As long as we are talking about it, whether you disagree or agree with me, we need to talk about it. Let's do something.
HOLMES: Gaetane Borders, again Peas in the Pod. I believe it's just peasinthepod.com, focused on minority children. Thank you once again for coming in and we'll stay on the case of baby Jahessye now.
Thank you so much. Good to see you again.
We're at 18 minutes past the hour.
Up next, we're going to head over to Thailand dealing with the worst flooding they've seen there in half a century look at how they're coping and what they are doing to get the water out.
Now also a little later, don't try this at home, folks, you are a superhero you want to look like, it's one thing to put on the outfit and go out to a Halloween party, but the surgery, to go to plastic surgery to alter your face to try to look like Superman, yes, this is actually happening somewhere, folks.
But, first, let me tell you about Americans now owing more on student loans than they do on credit card debt according to creditkarma.com. Folks owe an average over $29,000 in student loans. One state in particular we'll tell you about after the break has the highest average out there. Can you guess which one?
I'm back with you in 60 seconds. Do not go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, 20 minutes past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Before the break telling you about Americans owing an average of more than $29,000 in student loans. The state with the highest average student debt, at least according to creditkarma.com, that is Maryland, with the honor, the highest average student loan debt there, over $33,000.
We're 20 minutes past the hour, let's say good morning once again to Reynolds Wolf. Reynolds, where do you want to start?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds, thank you. We'll be seeing Reynolds plenty throughout the morning.
Let's turn to Thailand where the worst flooding in almost a half a century is just swamping them. The country's prime minister says more water could pour into the capital of Bangkok as engineers open floodgates and divert water into the city's canals. It's possible, historic sites, palaces getting extra protection.
The high water is driving people into shelters. More than 113,000 in shelters already. Four hundred people have died. Monsoon rains triggered all this flooding and Thailand has started flood relief efforts. Tons of supplies are headed to the worst hit areas, many in the northern part of Thailand. A lot more images and information on our website and you can find out how you can help the flood victims. You can go to CNN.com/impact. We're at 23 minutes past the hour now, and it's tough trying to raise some money right now, even tougher if you're looking for a job, but you could actually score some quick cash if you know where to look. Our digital lifestyle expert, Mario, you're going to have to deliver on this one. He's going to tell us how we can score some quick cash. He's after the break, and the pressure is on. Also a little later this morning, they say music feeds the soul, but that's not good enough for Jon Bon Jovi. Coming up, a look at his latest project. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Getting close to the bottom of the hour now.
A lot of people out there have been looking for a job. It's going to be a long process and sometimes you need quick cash. Our digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong is here with a few tips on where you can find that cash.
All right, we've got websites, we've got apps.
MARIO ARMSTRONG, CNN DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: That's right.
HOLMES: Let's start first with the website and this is going to sound familiar, this first one, I believe.
ARMSTRONG: Yes. Absolutely. A lot of people will know this name Craigslist.org, a lot of people know that T.J. from buying goods and selling goods and maybe looking for apartments and things of that nature. But when it comes to jobs, Craigslist has really prove to be a hotbed for not only people posting positions whether they're part time, full time or just a special project, but also actually people saying I'm available to be hired.
So, use Craigslist to put your skills out there, what you're good at, what you're willing to do and see if people will be willing to hire you for those short-term projects.
HOLMES: OK, this next one actually helps people who are already working for themselves? Do I have that right?
ARMSTRONG: Yes, absolutely.
So, this one is called Elance.com. This one is for people that are either already working for themselves or have skills and have been laid off and need to find short-term income. Elance.com is a place where companies post short-term projects. So maybe I need a new proposal written, maybe I need a website design or maybe I need someone to do my data entry for me, administrative tasks.
So everything from legal to everything in between, they have over, like, 30 categories that you could be putting your skills up so that you could be getting paid for the work that you do. So, this is all about the freelance economy and helping people pursue their passions and make money on the side.
HOLMES: You said about 30 categories, but is that thing jam-packed with projects?
ARMSTRONG: Fifty-five thousand projects were posted in the last 30 days.
HOLMES: All right, then.
ARMSTRONG: Fifty-five thousand projects.
HOLMES: All right! Elance, let me get that one down.
ARMSTRONG: You do it!
HOLMES: I'm free this afternoon.
All right, let's turn to the iPhone app now. Now, this is one to help you make some money here with an app. Let me hear this one.
ARMSTRONG: This one is called Gigwalk. You go to Gigwalk.com or you download this app -- unfortunately, right now, only available on the iPhone as you mentioned -- but here's the idea.
The idea is that companies can go on to Gigwalk and post short-term gigs. A short-term gig might be go check my competition's restaurant and take a photo of their menu. So, I want to get competitive intelligence.
So anyone with an iPhone could then go and take and accept the gig, get paid for it. They pay anywhere between $6 to $50 per gig that you do. So, there's everything on there, shopping experience, all types of competitive information, looking for, like I mentioned, what your competitors may be doing or even I saw one example where a company said why am I losing sales? Do I have long lines on the weekend and they hired a couple of gig walkers to come into their store, take pictures as to what was actually going on with the shopping experience.
HOLMES: Now, that is interesting! That is really short-term cash if you --
ARMSTRONG: Exactly.
HOLMES: -- need to go on a date that night, you could go --
ARMSTRONG: That's right! No, you could -- that's right.
HOLMES: But these aren't -- are all of them those type of smaller jobs where you're going out on a little assignment?
ARMSTRONG: That's right. It's just a little assignment.
You can get more and more assignments and then you can build up your cash flow depending on the amount of assignments you take on, but that's exactly what this is all about.
So I think really people need to understand technology is enabling us to really put our skills out there, pursue our passions and find smarter ways to try to make those ends meet in between trying to look for a full-time gig.
HOLMES: Gigwalk, is that one free?
ARMSTRONG: Yes, it is a free app. That's right absolutely.
HOLMES: All right, then. Mario, that's a good one. We should have done a whole segment on Gig Walk. That's good stuff this morning. You did deliver. Mario, of course, our digital --
(CROSSTALK)
ARMSTRONG: He shoots and he scores.
HOLMES: -- lifestyle expert and he gives you the scoop on the latest on technology right here every Saturday morning. Mario, always good to see you; thanks so much.
ARMSTRONG: You, too, T.J. Thanks again.
HOLMES: All right, we're at the bottom of the hour.
It's a church know for its mobility but where its belongings went are unknown. Thieves clean out a church. And why parishioners say this burglary happened at the worst possible time.
Also big changes are coming to Conrad Murray involuntary manslaughter trial. We'll tell you about that and catch up on what happened this past week.
That's all next; you stay with me now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, we're just past the bottom of the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Welcome back, everybody, I'm T.J. Holmes. I'm glad you could spend part of your weekend here with us.
And we're looking ahead to next week and some critical testimony in the Conrad Murray manslaughter trial. Murray, of course, accused of fatally drugging pop music icon Michael Jackson. The defense is now getting more aggressive.
CNN's Ted Rowlands is following the case for us.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., this was the week that the trial came to a screeching halt, two and a half of the five days were dark mainly because of scheduling issues. When court was in session, Dr. Steven Shafer was on the stand and he is by far the most important witness for the state. He's not only an expert in Propofol and anesthesiology but he laid out for the jury what the state believes happened to Michael Jackson the night he died and it contradicts what Dr. Conrad Murray told police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. STEVEN SHAFER, ANESTHESIOLOGIST: Michael Jackson died while the infusion was running.
DAVID WALGREN, PROSECUTOR: So the Propofol was going into his body even as his heart was stopping. SHAFER: That is correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Also this week, T.J., we saw for the first time some emotion out of Dr. Conrad Murray. He was visibly upset when David Walgren the district attorney took off a little piece of plastic at the handle on a very important piece of evidence, it's a bottle of Propofol. Both sides were brought into the judge's chambers after this happened, the defense was very upset, they ironed it out and explained it to the jury.
The bottom line, though, the sense inside that courtroom has changed, T.J., the defense is very aggressive. Ed Chernoff was aggressive on the cross-examination of Dr. Shafer and we're seeing a real change in the courtroom.
We do expect when court resumes on Monday that Shafer will be on the stand for a little bit in the morning, but then the defense will get to its case in principal. Their most important witness will be Dr. White, we expect him to take the stand either Wednesday or Thursday, closing arguments are still expected despite the slowdown some point -- at some point next week -- T.J.
HOLMES: Thanks to our Ted Rowlands.
Well we are 36 minutes past the hour. Let's to turn to some politics, and a big weekend for the Republican presidential candidates who are trying to reach out to the party's base in Iowa. Six of the eight candidates are on the schedule for the Faith and Freedom Coalition Banquet, the Faith and Freedom Coalition is led by Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition.
Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman are the two missing from tonight's event. Romney is in New Hampshire. We'll have much more in the Iowa event coming your way in just about 90 minutes.
And meanwhile Michele Bachmann seems to be missing some folks in her New Hampshire campaign headquarters. She had five staffers, and now reports say all five have resigned. One is joining Rick Perry's campaign. And Bachmann has lost several high-profile staffers over the past few weeks. They've left for different reasons including allegations that she doesn't have the money to sustain a national campaign.
All right. Take a look at this. Superman, you know, a lot of people like the man of steel, but not this much. The guy is from the Philippines. And wait until you hear the lengths he went through to make sure he looked like Clark Kent. And he didn't just put on the outfit, folks. Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, 39 minutes past the hour.
Nadia Bilchik with this morning's "Morning Passport." You know kids, boys, they like superheroes. And the extent we go to is to actually, hey, mom, can I get the superman for Halloween this year.
(CROSSTALK)
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Right.
HOLMES: -- can I get Batman. This guy has taken it to a whole new level.
BILCHIK: Yes, Herbert Chavez in the Philippines has had an obsession with Superman for many, many years.
HOLMES: Yes.
BILCHIK: And in the mid-1990s he embarked on plastic surgery to look like Christopher Reeve, a.k.a., Superman, the Man of Steel.
HOLMES: But you said he's been doing it since the '90s.
BILCHIK: Yes, he has.
HOLMES: And there he is.
BILCHIK: He has many, many surgeries. He's had everything from lip injections to thigh implants. He's also lightened his skin. I mean you can see he's had nose augmentation. He has had multiple surgeries and now, of course, he wants to have surgery to be taller.
HOLMES: Oh I didn't even know that was available, actually. Does he walk around in the outfit all day?
BILCHIK: Well, not all day.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: Because he works as a dress designer during the day. But he spends a lot of time in his Superman outfit working in the community and helping children and I think channeling Superman on some level.
HOLMES: OK, how old is he by the way?
BILCHIK: He's in his mid-30s.
HOLMES: He's 30, all right.
BILCHIK: But they say he has body dysmorphic disorder which is an obsession with plastic surgery and looking different. But there he is, and right now he's certainly using it for good, nothing sinister that we know of. But certainly costing him a lot of money and from health, you know from a health point of view we don't know what the risks are.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: How is he being received by the community? What do people think of him in the Philippines?
BILCHIK: They think he's very strange, but it's one of those things where the children love him.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: But I'm going to take you to Seoul for a moment in South Korea.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: Which really is the surgical capital of the entire -- of all of Asia.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: And here you have people who are doing all kinds of things. For example, they are having their eyes made rounder and as -- even little girls are doing this. Because there's a belief particularly in South Korea when you look at a resume, you have a photograph on your resume.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: So what you look like is very, very important. There's a rather young woman as you can see.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: My goodness.
BILCHIK: This child is 12 years old and she is having her eyes made rounder, because her mother believes that it's actually a financial investment in her future.
HOLMES: Wow, I guess this can't be cheap necessarily, right?
BILCHIK: It's not necessarily cheap but these people believe that if you look better, your chance of getting a job in the global economy is going to be better.
HOLMES: You look better or not look like where you're from. They don't want to look Korean --
(CROSSTALK)
BILCHIK: Of course there's huge criticism regarding that.
HOLMES: Yes.
BILCHIK: But it's the beautiness of looking Western.
HOLMES: My goodness, Nadia, you are blowing my mind this morning.
BILCHIK: People are even having the muscle underneath their tongues cut so they can speak better English.
HOLMES: Wow. The lengths people go through. There it is. Oh, my goodness gracious, Nadia Bilchik with our "Morning Passport." BILCHIK: So when you look at yourself in the mirror and go, wow, I look like this naturally.
HOLMES: Well thank you for that Nadia. Not what I was thinking this morning, I was thinking, man, I need to shave. But thank you nonetheless.
All right. Coming up next legendary rocker Jon Bon Jovi opening a new restaurant and you get to pay whatever you want for the meal. It's for a good cause. You need to hear this. A good story we're happy to share with you this morning.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Now, we're about a quarter to the top of the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'll give you a look at some of the stories making news across the country.
It is Election Day in Louisiana. Governor Bobby Jindal should feel pretty good about his chances for re-election. The -- some of the polls out there suggest he has at least a 50-point lead over his closest rival almost guaranteeing Jindal a second term in the governor's mansion.
Also, the congregation in an Indiana church, Freedom Church, is going to move into their new home this weekend, but those plans changed when thieves stole an estimated $25,000 worth of chairs, tables, administrative equipment from the church's trailer which has served as its mobile home. For now parishioners are holding services at a local YMCA. Stealing from a church.
Also, let's turn to Indiana; Bloomington, Indiana, this time, twins Jennifer and Jessica Patterson have done a lot of things growing up, but as adults now they can add one more shared experience. They gave birth on the same day. They didn't plan it -- and how could you, necessarily -- but they say it just happened.
Also rock star Jon Bon Jovi and his wife have opened a pay what you can community kitchen in New Jersey. No prices on the menu. You just have to leave a donation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON BON JOVI, SINGER: There's a great need for them, both in urban and suburban environments. I've already had offers to increase our footprint.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, if you can't afford to pay, you can volunteer in the kitchen or somewhere else in the community and get a gift certificate to the restaurant.
We can predict the weather. Sometimes we can even predict the election outcomes and our weather team and political unit are pros at doing that stuff. But predicting crime?
Dan Simon uncovers the future of policing in this "Start Small, Think Big."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the movie "Minority Report," actor Tom Cruise tracks down would be criminals in the year 2054.
TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: Standard CPD blue and white. Set up a perimeter and come around the rear.
SIMON: Police in Santa Cruz, California are turning the sci-fi future into reality. They're using an algorithm, a complicated math equation to predict crime before it happens.
ZACH FRIEND, CRIME ANALYST, SANTA CRUZ POLICE: People tend to burglarize the same area more than once even during the same types of times of the day or the same days of the week.
SIMON: The program generates ten hot spot maps each day letting officers know when and where a crime is likely to occur.
LT. BERNIE ESCALANTE, SANTA CRUZ POLICE: There's 60 percent likelihood of a residential burglary in this area that we're going to go to now.
SIMON: With police departments facing budget cuts across the country this system gives them another tool to fight crime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since 2000, we've lost about 20 percent of our overall staff. Yet, calls for service have gone up by 30 percent. If you can find a technological program that can help do more with less it makes sense to do it.
ESCALANTE: 322, it's a tan Honda.
SIMON: So far, it seems to be working.
FRIEND: July of last year, versus July of this year, a 27 percent reduction of burglaries; we've also made seven arrests.
SIMON: Now, other agencies like the Los Angeles Police Department have plans to implement the program.
FRIEND: If this system works and so far it looks promising, I really just see this as the future of law enforcement.
SIMON: Dan Simon, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Still about 13 minutes off the top of the hour, and a story that many of you have told me this morning that I am wrong about.
Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers fined $10,000 for a phone call he made on the sideline. I said he was justified in making the call. Many of you tell me I'm wrong. If you're not up on the story, we'll have it for you after the break and tell you exactly who he called and why I think it was justified.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Our friend from HLN Sports, Joe Carter joining Reynolds and I this morning. We're going to get to the Troy Polamalu story that Reynolds and I are really on opposite ends about. We'll get to that in a second about that $10,000 phone call.
But, first, NBA isn't happening anytime soon, is it?
JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS: Yes, yes. Here's what we're reporting. The NBA is still in a lock-out. It's over 100 days now, both sides spent 30 hours in front of a federal mediator this week. Nothing was settled.
You know, there's a lot of he said, she said going on outside the room, but no one really knows what's going on inside the room except for those that are involved. The owners say, hey we have to have a 50/50 split here or absolutely no deal. The players want 53 percent and they want to give the owners 47 percent of the basketball related income. There is no timetable set at this time for another meeting.
You know, the season was supposed to start November 1st. Of course, they canceled the first weeks of the season. Last week we heard David Stern say that he thinks that the Christmas Day games will be canceled. That's yet to happen, but I'm assuming it will happen soon if there's no deal reached.
HOLMES: Yes, the rhetoric got a little heated the last couple days unfortunately, but hopefully they'll get that worked out.
Let's turn now to another story out of the NFL. A trade may have saved a guy's life.
CARTER: Absolutely, Jerome Harrison probably wasn't too happy when he found out he was going to be traded from the Lions to the Eagles. Obviously, the Lions having a great season; Eagles not so much but this trade may have actually saved his life. It was a blessing in disguise, because in the NFL before a player is traded they must have that extensive medical examination and during this examination, to everyone's surprise, doctors found a brain tumor.
Nobody knew he had it. He didn't know he had it. And because of the trade, he had to do a medical examination which found the tumor. He's going to be out for the rest of the season but because they caught the tumor so early he may actually be able to return to football and hopefully will have a happy, healthy life.
HOLMES: Look forward to that that he gets back on the field.
Now let's turn to something. We'll stick with football here. And Reynolds and I have been going on all morning. The viewers have been responding. When is it ok to call your wife? I guess essentially it's what this boils down to, Reynolds. And Reynolds doesn't think it's ok to call your wife and tell her that you're ok.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, trust me it is ok. It is ok but under what context? I mean, no one has a problem with him calling his wife. It's where and when he did it.
HOLMES: Tell the story, Joe.
CARTER: Last week during the Jacksonville game, Polamalu suffered a mild concussion. The team took him out of the game and so he used a trainer's cell phone to call his wife to let her know that he wasn't seriously injured.
HOLMES: So this is the point, Reynolds, you're supposed to say "oh."
WOLF: I'll say "ah" in the tunnel, I'll say "ah" at halftime or after the game.
CARTER: So in the NFL you're not allowed to use a cell phone on the sidelines or actually you're not allowed to use it 90 minutes before kickoff, throughout the entire game. And if you do use it, you do get fined. Polamalu is slapped with a $10,000 fine.
But I don't know where -- I see you are both -- what sides you are both on in this, but I would assume that they would have somebody that could maybe go in the tunnel and call her and let her know that everything was ok. But --
WOLF: Really? How about that? I hear you, Joe.
HOLMES: My argument was that --
CARTER: Bottom line, he's a good husband.
HOLMES: She wants to hear her husband's voice. He had a concussion, needs to know -- hear my baby's voice. He's ok.
WOLF: You know, I would like a martini and ice cream cone right now, but I'm not going to get that either.
CARTER: That's the problem. It could be a slippery slope, because you let one guy do it then all of a sudden people are calling their bookies. People are calling their --
WOLF: He's right about these -- Joe's absolutely right.
HOLMES: Put them up. Put them up for me. We got responses. We got a ton of them out there from you guys, actually.
So here's one that says "I'm with Reynolds on this one." Gee, thanks, Charlies. "His wife could see he's ok by watching. You're still a newlywed, T.J., what do you know? Obey the rules."
HOLMES: Yes.
Do we have another one that makes more sense than the one from Charles? This one says, "No, he shouldn't, shouldn't get find. The fact that he just had been removed from the game for concussion shows he may not have been thinking clearly."
CARTER: Good point.
HOLMES: That's another good point. You have any more you want -- here's one, "I think the amount of these fines are proportional to the player's income, which is large, $100 would be like fining me 25 cents.
My trusty team here obviously picked out three that didn't go along with my argument.
CARTER: Right again, T.J.
HOLMES: Reynolds, Joe, good stuff as always. Are we doing the game- day forecast?
WOLF: I think we're going to have it. We're going to hold it for later on in the show. We have a time -- kind of limited right now.
HOLMES: OK. Well, Joe, thank you for this.
CARTER: Good being here.
HOLMES: We'll continue with the conversation. Quick break here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We'll be back.
HOLMES: Well, as we get close to the top of the hour, we have a little family reunion to tell you about, but the details on this one really hard to believe. The young woman in the story was told she'd been sold for drugs as an infant. Now, after more than 20 years she's back in the arms of the big sisters she had no idea she had.
The story now from Diana Davis from our affiliate WSBN, Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANA DAVIS, WSBN ATLANTA: She vanished 22 years ago. These pictures all Crystal and Tisha, days after Baby Tiera was born, mother and baby went to live with an aunt. Then the baby was gone. Crystal was 12. Her family said nothing.
TIERA RICE, REUNITED WITH FAMILY AFTER 22 YEARS: I said, you know, where's the baby? And they just -- they said we don't know.
DAVIS: Tisha was 6. She remembers bits and pieces.
TISHA RICE, REUNITED WITH LONG-LOST SISTER: I remember feeding her, and then it was just kind of -- it was just hushed.
DAVIS: Tiera grew up 40 miles away raised not as Tiera Rice but Candace Flores, at age 12 she found a baby bracelet with the name Tiera Rice.
TIERA RICE: It has the same birthday as my birthday and I thought I might have had a twin that I didn't know.
DAVIS: The people she'd known as mom and dad brushed off years of question. At age 15, the woman Tiera thought was her mother died of a drug overdose. Her family broke the news.
They said that they were sorry to tell me but my mom had died and my dad wasn't my dad and she wasn't my mother.
DAVIS: They told her there was no point finding her biological mother; that she'd long ago sold her for drugs. In Hall County, drug addict Wanda Rice was doing time in prison for murder, and every prison visit she told Crystal and Tisha to never stop searching for Tiera. She even wrote her wishes in her will just before she died.
TISHA RICE: I want Tiera to know that she has two sisters that love her and that her birth mother loved her as well.
DAVIS: Now 22 with a six-year-old son of her own, Tiera hired a private eye, within days she learned who she was and that she had two sisters.
TIERA RICE: They've been looking for me for a lifetime and I never knew I was lost in the first place.
So, I thought she was so much better off and then when I found out she wasn't, it broke my heart.
DAVIS: With no birth certificate, no identity until now, Tiera has lived life on the edge, supporting herself and her son as an exotic dancer.
TIERA RICE: You know, we don't have a family, there was no grandma on my side, on holidays -
DAVIS: Now, what was lost is found.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now the sisters say that the past is the past, they all forgive their mother for what happened. Now they are making a plans for a big family Thanksgiving.
