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CNN Saturday Morning News
New Rules for Secret Service; McCain Upset with Obama Ad; Cease-Fire Not Materializing in Syria; Father Claims Son Bullied by Teachers; Bunker Standoff Near Seattle; Possible Hate Crime Charge For Delmon Young, More Freedom for Andrea Yates Debated, Mexico Volcano Puts on Show, Teens Getting High on Hand Sanitizer; Brazilian Woman Claims Altercation With U.S. Secret Service; Dogs Help Improve Reading Skills; Bunker Standoff Near Seattle
Aired April 28, 2012 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is Saturday, April 28th. Good morning, everyone. I'm Randy Kaye.
A tense standoff near Seattle, SWAT teams are surrounding a bunker. The man holed up inside is suspected of killing his wife and daughter. A live interview with the sheriff's office, straight ahead.
A child with autism bullied by the people entrusted to protect him, his teachers. I talk with the boy's father who says he captured the abuse on tape.
And remember Andrea Yates? The Texas woman who drowned all five of her children, she is now in the mental hospital, but she is asking to be allowed out once a week. I talk with her attorney this hour.
Back to the tense standoff to catch a double murder suspect in Seattle. The fugitive, 41-year-old Peter Keller, is believed to be holed up inside a makeshift bunker near Seattle. He's believed to be well-armed and well-supplied. He is wanted in the killings of his wife and daughter.
Sergeant Katie Larson of the King County Sheriff's office joins us by phone from North Bend, Washington to talk about this. Sergeant Larson, first tell us what is happening so far today? Have you made any progress or any contact?
KATIE LARSON, KING COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE (via telephone): Well (inaudible) we've been -- we had one of our tactical team --
KAYE: All right, you know what? We're going to fix that -- we're going to fix that connection to Sergeant Larson there. She's in a remote area, of course, trying to -- trying to reach this guy at that bunker.
So we'll get that as soon as we can and get it to you.
In the meantime the Secret Service now has a new code of conduct coming in the wake of the prostitution scandal in Colombia. The new rules say that agents on assignment in other countries have to act like they're still in the United States. Also they are forbidden from having anyone else in their room, there will be a list of places they have to stay away from and no drinking of alcohol within ten hours of reporting for duty.
Meanwhile sources with knowledge of the Colombian investigation tell CNN that Arthur Huntington is the agent at the center of the scandal. He is the one who had the pay dispute with the prostitute that brought this whole story to light.
Huntington we are told has left the agency.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is describing the nerve wracking moments leading up to Osama bin Laden's take down. Panetta says there is no silver bullet that will destroy al Qaeda but he says there's no question the U.S. is more secure with bin Laden gone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: They said that they have -- they had KIA which (inaudible) confirmed that in fact that it happened. So that was -- that was the moment when we -- we knew that all of the work that had been done was -- was paying off. I think the one thing all of us feel pretty good about that were involved in this operation is that as a result of what we did, America's safer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Panetta was CIA Director during the raid which happened almost exactly one year ago.
An Obama re-election campaign ad that talks about the bin Laden operation is rubbing John McCain the wrong way. And McCain says it shamelessly tries to score political points. The ad features former President Bill Clinton. Here's a portion of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He had to decide and that's what our President is to do. You hire the President to make the calls when no one else can do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: To that McCain said "Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memory of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad".
Fresh violence across Syria has left at least 13 people dead according to opposition activists. As the clashes rage, a Lebanese state media says a ship with weapons was intercepted in the Mediterranean. Syrian state media says the weapons are intended for opposition fighters.
CNN's Arwa Damon reports the weapons and attacks are just another blow to the peace plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At this specific point and time Kofi Annan's peace plan may as well be considered dead since at its very essence its core is at a ceasefire and that, quite frankly, has not materialized.
(voice-over): Ever since the so-called ceasefire, was supposed to have taken effect opposition activists say that Syrian government forces have killed hundreds of people, oftentimes in neighborhoods right after they were visited by U.N. monitors, And the Syrian government says that it has catalogued countless violation carried out by what it is calling armed terrorist groups including explosions in the capital Damascus that took place on Friday, one of them being carried out according to Syrian state television by a suicide bomber at the very center of the capital itself.
And there are also some grave concerns being expressed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressing his dismay at developments inside this war-torn nation. Now by Monday there's supposed to be 30 monitors in the country at the very least, 100 by the end of the month; the peace plan of course calling for 300 in total although many are saying that that is hardly going to be enough to even begin to enforce any sort of ceasefire.
An opposition activists are increasingly warning that if the cycle of violence continues as it has for more than a year now and if they continue to not have true western or international backing they may just be forced to turn to Islamist groups all of them underscoring that this is not an option that they would have ever wanted to entertain but one that they just might have to look toward if they really want to save themselves. None of this of course bodes well for Syria or for the region.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Back to that tense standoff to catch a double murders suspect in Seattle. The fugitive 41-year-old Peter Keller is believed to be holed up inside a homemade bunker near Seattle. He's believed to be well armed and also well supplied. He's wanted in the killings of his wife and daughter.
Late yesterday investigator tried to force Keller out with tear gas but it isn't clear if the gas went deep enough into the bunker that really have any effect and SWAT teams say they won't force the issue by going inside. In the words of one sergeant, there is no urgency. We have him contained.
Relatives describe Keller as a survivalist with a doomsday attitude. He has not been seen since Sunday after the bodies of his wife and teenage daughter were discovered in a fire at his home. A wisp of smoke and photos on Keller's hard drive led investigators to the bunker.
Some people who knew the family are shocked and others are just angry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POOL COOKE, KELLER'S BOSS: He just adored her. I mean, one of the things that we've seen was him actually just spontaneously going over and hugging his daughter.
SALLY FRENCH, FRIEND OF VICTIM: I hope he resists because I want him to know what a bullet feels like. You know, I can't stop being angry. You know. They were amazing people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Authorities say they will stay outside that bunker for days, maybe even weeks, however long it takes.
And of course, we are working on getting a live report from that scene. We'll bring it to you as soon as we get it.
An outraged father goes public with a secret recording that he says documents his child being bullied not by other kids but by teachers.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, boy, knock it off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go ahead and scream because guess what? You're going to get nothing until your mouth is shut. Shut your mouth.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KAYE: The child has autism and couldn't report the abuse on his own. We'll tell you what happened to the teachers and we'll speak to the father next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: An unbelievable close call that will send shivers up your spine. Take a look at this with me, a little girl in China runs across the busy street by herself right into the path of a huge truck. She gets trapped underneath the truck.
Watch it again there but amazingly she walks away with only minor injuries. It's so incredible.
There is a manhunt under way in Denver. Police are looking for two suspects from a violent robbery this week. This is new surveillance video over the robbery from Thursday night. The suspect demanded the clerk open the cash register and then shot him in the arm. You see it there. They then fired a couple of shots at customers in the store before leaving. None of the customers was hurt. Police say the pair may be responsible for a string of recent robberies.
Outside the eyes of caring parents, one child endured what many parents fear, bullying at the hands of a caregiver and this time a teacher. The child with autism was unable to complain about it, to tell his father about it.
CNN's Mary Snow has more on the father's effort to uncover the truth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 10-year-old Akian Chaifetz was diagnosed with autism seven years ago, his father says. But Stu Chaifetz says his son's biggest struggle now it isn't his condition but bullying by the classroom staff entrusted to care for him.
He's documented the bullying in a very public way online, hoping he says "that other children won't suffer the same cruelty". Stuart Chaifetz say problems started this year when he was told his son had punched a teacher and an aide.
STUART CHAIFETZ, NO MORE TEACHER/BULLIES: I've seen him hit anybody. That just didn't make any sense.
SNOW: Frustrated by a lack of answers Chaifetz put a recording device in his son's pocket during the school day. He was horrified to hear what was on it.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, boy, knock it off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go ahead and scream because guess what? You're going to get nothing until your mouth is shut. Shut your mouth.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SNOW (on camera): What was your reaction when you first heard that tape?
CHAIFETZ: Well when I -- that night when I started listening to it, I -- I just shattered inside.
SNOW (voice-over): More than six hours were recorded. Chaifetz says the toughest part was listening to Akian ask if he could see his father.
CHAIFETZ: My son -- when he transitions back from his mom and I he leaves with me full time, he -- he just has a little natural anxiety. He says may I see dad after mom which is his way of asking -- to be reassured he's coming back home.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
AKIAN: May I see Dad after Mom?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
Did you go to see any books in the library or you just looked at sculptures -- Oh Akian, you are a bastard.
AKIAN: May I see?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't see. (END AUDIO CLIP)
SNOW: Chaifetz says he went immediately to his son's Cherry Hill School and credits administrators with acting quickly. In a statement the school superintendent said "In February upon receiving a copy of an audio recording the district undertook a thorough and rigorous investigation and responded swiftly and appropriately."
She said there were specifics she couldn't legally address, adding "I want to assure our parents that the individuals who were heard on the recording raising their voices and inappropriately addressing children no longer work in the district."
Chaifetz says he felt he had no choice but to go public.
CHAIFETZ: Every child is worthy of defense and respect and that no one deserves to be treated with cruelty and to be humiliated and that we need -- we who can speak for them need to stop it by changing the law, by exposing people who bully kids and by publicly shaming them.
SNOW (on camera): Steve Chaifetz isn't completely satisfied with the district's action. He says he's going public because he claims one of the teachers wasn't fired but transferred to another school.
Now the superintendent's office wouldn't address that question and just referred us to a statement it had previously sent out.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: It's so disturbing to watch. In a statement released by Kelly Altenburg's attorney, she denies making any of those comments. The attorney wrote, quote, "With regard to at least the following comments or alleged comments that Mr. Chaevitz has attributed to my client and others Mrs. Altenburg in fact did not make them. And those comments were not even made in her presence."
Up next I spoke with 10-year-old Akian's father Stuart Chaifetz about the alleged abuse and what he did and you'll hear his reaction when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. Before the break, we told you how Stuart Chaifetz, the father of a 10-year-old boy with autism secretly recorded what he claims is a teacher bullying his son. Earlier I spoke with Stuart Chaifetz and talk with him about how his son is doing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUART CHAIFETZ, SON WAS BULLIED BY TEACHERS: There's been no incident since then. He's just a joy. I was sitting here before just thinking of him and smiling. He's such a happy kid.
And then I heard that video and got as angry as I did the first time I heard it and my heart broke again, each time I hear that what they did to him.
KAYE: Yes. What do you feel when you listen to that? I mean that is just outrageous if that's going on in that classroom.
CHAIFETZ: You know, it is -- as a father and I'm sure any parent, when you hear your child in distress and you can't be there to protect them, it's the worst feeling in the world. One of the reasons why I went forward was to one day show him that people care, that what they did to him was wrong. In addition to hopefully reaching out and showing what an epidemic bullying is, you know.
And they -- what was especially vile about this situation is that all the children in that class had verbal impairments so none of them could tell their parents and they just ran -- the staff ran wild, saying whatever they wanted, venting on these children, which to me is the ultimate act of a coward --
KAYE: Right.
CHAIFETZ: -- when you pick on someone who can, not only not fight back, but can't talk back. And my son actually did learn to fight back and he was really -- a message to me saying help. It was a cry for help.
KAYE: How did you know that something was up? I mean what made you wire up your son? What were you hoping to learn?
CHAIFETZ: Well, when we started getting notes back that he was hitting the teacher and the aide that to me sent -- that immediately to me showed that something was wrong because he's such a gentle and loving human being.
And we had meetings with the school. They brought a behaviorist in. The behaviorist never saw anything. He tried to aggravate Akian to the point that Akian would lash out and he didn't. And once that happened, I knew that there was something going on in that class was specifically setting him off.
And I said the only way I can find out is because he couldn't talk to me was to put an audio recorder into his pocket. And thank God I did because otherwise he'd still be there today still probably being tormented.
KAYE: Most parents they send their kids to school and they worry about them being bullied by other students. They certainly don't worry about them being bullied by teachers. And you've exposed here quite a case.
Stuart Chaifetz, thank you very much for your time. Please, as you do release some more of that video -- some more of that audio tape, we'd like to have you back on.
Thank you.
CHAIFETZ: Thank you so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: If you'd like to sound off on this story or any stories about bullying, tweet me now or any time. You can use the hash tag bullyingstopshere and you can find me on Twitter @randikayecnn.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: We have more now on that standoff near Seattle for a double murder suspect accused of killing his wife and daughter. The fugitive, 41-year-old Peter Keller is believed to be holed up inside a homemade bunker. Late yesterday investigators tried to force him out with tear gas. That didn't work.
Bob Robuck of affiliate KIRO with that Rattlesnake Ridge Trail just outside of North Bend. Bob, good morning to you. What is happening out there right now?
BOB ROBUCK, REPORTER, KIRO: Well, a SWAT team came in here about a couple of hours; a fresh SWAT team. They had one SWAT team that camped out here overnight. They switched out. Now the new ones are back up in there. And they're trying to get into this bunker.
Let me tell you, Randi, this is a pretty tough bunker to get into. It's built into the side of a hill and it's a very steep hill. It's built right into the leg so it's very hard for them to get up to it. They've got the chopper circling around, the county chopper. It's been circling around all this morning, keeping an eye on things and dropping off supplies to this tactical team.
Now they believe it is very dangerous. They do believe Keller is in there because they did see some lights on in that bunker last night and some signs that tell them that there is some sort of life going on there. So this is a tactical situation and they're working very hard to try to get in.
KAYE: And, Bob, what about tear gas? We understand they tried it once, they weren't sure if the tear gas got all the way in to him. Any word that they may try that again?
ROBUCK: Well, what they did was they launched some tear gas in there yesterday, and nothing really seemed to happen. They believe that Keller may have a gas mask on. You've got to remember this a guy that has fortified himself and he's been working on this thing for eight years so he could have any manner of protection, ammo, gas mask, things to protect himself.
KAYE: Yes.
ROBUCK: So I'm thinking they won't do that again today but they keep changing their plans as things go along. So you never know.
KAYE: So he certainly sounds like a survivalist. He's well-prepared. He's well stocked up. How long do you think investigators can wait this out?
ROBUCK: Well, they have told us that safety is the number one thing here and they are prepared to wait it out because this is in an area, although this is very rural out here, there are communities around -- surrounding it. So they want to make sure that everyone who lives out in this area is safe, not to mention the tactical teams themselves.
So they've got supplies. They will continue to bring in supplies and wait this thing out. This is a guy that believes that the end of the world is coming and that was his motive, they believe, for him hunkering down in that bunker.
KAYE: Bob Robuck of our affiliate KIRO. Bob thank you very much.
When we come back, we're going to talk about Andrea Yates. Do you remember her? Does that name ring a bell. She kill her five children, was declared mentally unfit for trial. And now she wants out of the mental hospital. We'll tell you why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Top stories now. Fresh violence across Syria has left at least 13 people dead, according to opposition activists. As the clashes rage, Lebanese state media says a ship with weapons was intercepted in the Mediterranean. Syrian state media say the weapons are intended for opposition fighters. The weapons and the attack are just another blow to a shaky cease-fire meant to end 13 months of unrest.
A player with the Detroit Tigers could be charged with a hate crime after reportedly getting into a fight with man outside the Hilton hotel in New York City. CNN's affiliate WABC says outfielder Delmon Young allegedly made an anti-Semitic remark during the altercation. Young was charged with aggravated assault, but police are investigating whether they need to elevate the charge to a hate crime.
Andrea Yates is asking for some of her freedom back. She became infamous in 2001 after murdering her five young children.
She was eventually declared insane. But now her doctors say she should be allowed to go to church outside the hospital where she lives. But the court will have to decide. I spoke with her attorney.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: She's a woman in search of redemption. Nearly 11 years after filling a bathtub at her Houston area home and methodically drowning her five children.
GEORGE PARNHAM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She's a very spiritual person, reads the Bible constantly.
KAYE: For more than five years, Andrea Yates has been locked up inside a Texas mental hospital, but now her doctors say she's made such progress that they'd like to grant her request to attend church outside the facility once a week. Her defense lawyer, George Parnham, says a congregation has agreed to let her come.
Long before that awful day in 2001, Andrea appeared to be a healthy, happy mother. She home-schooled her children. But in the years leading up to the murders, Andrea became delusional. With each birth it got worse. She hardly made sense when talking with a psychologist before her trial.
ANDREA YATES, MURDER INMATE: The cartoon characters were talking to us.
PARNHAM: The cartoon characters?
YATES: They were saying, hey, kids, stop eats someone's candy.
KAYE (voice-over): Before the murders, Andrea had been hospitalized four times, attempted suicide and was on and off aniti-psychotic medications. Her defense team claimed she suffered from severe postpartum depression. She thought she was a bad mother, and that her children were doomed to spend eternity in Hell. The only way to save them, she thought, was to kill them.
PARNHAM: What loving mother would want their children to burn in hell?
KAYE (voice-over): On June 20, 2001, Andrea waited for her husband, Rusty Yates, to leave for work, then filled the bathtub, holding each child one by one under the water. The oldest, Noah, was 7. The youngest, Mary, just six months. When she was done, she called 911.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you having a disturbance? Are you ill or what?
YATES: Yes, I'm ill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you need an ambulance?
YATES: No, I need a police officer. Yeah, send an ambulance.
KAYE (voice-over): Andrea later confessed.
PARNHAM: After you drew the bathwater, what was your intent? What were you about to do?
YATES: Drown my children.
KAYE (voice-over): At her 2002 trial, she was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison, but after it was discovered a key prosecution witness had lied on the stand, Andrea got a new trial. At her 2006 retrial, a jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity. She and Rusty divorced in 2005.
KAYE (on camera): As part of her divorce settlement, Andrea Yates was given permission to be buried next to her children here at this cemetery outside Houston. In all these years, she's never been able to visit their graves. And even if she is allowed out to attend church, she still won't be able to come here, but her attorney told me that he comes to visit the grave site every year on the children's birthdays because their mother can't.
KAYE (voice-over): Her attorney says Andrea has been treated for depression and still takes medication for her bipolar disorder. It will be up to a judge to decide if she's well enough to attend church.
KAYE (on camera): This is a woman who drowned five of her children.
PARNHAM: I understand that.
KAYE (on camera): Why on earth should she be allowed to do anything, let alone attend church?
PARNHAM: It's -- my belief is that if you're not mentally culpable, then you're not responsible criminally for those acts.
KAYE (voice-over): But Andrea has a dark history with religion. Her defense team claimed her delusions got worse after the couple befriended with a traveling preacher named Michael Wernecki. He convinced them to give away their possessions and move their children into a 340-square-foot bus.
KAYE (on camera): Are you at all concerned that she may be negatively influenced by the scripture sitting in church again?
PARNHAM: No because Andrea was ill at the time that these -- the parameters of her delusion, which happened to be the images that Wernecki and his group would -- voiced upon her ill mind. She's not that way now.
KAYE (voice-over): George Parnum says all she wants is a stable church where God and Christianity can have a role in her life.
KAYE (on camera): I'm just curious. Does she feel any guilt.
PARNHAM: She mourns and she feels a great deal of remorse and perhaps she can equate that into guilt.
KAYE (voice-over): Try as she may, all the prayers in the world may not be enough to assuage the guilt such a horrific crime.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And once again it will be up to a judge to decide on Andrea yates' request go to church. That decision really could come any day now, and we'll let you know when it happens.
Listen to this. Some teens are getting drunk on hand sanitizer, perhaps not knowing about the dangerous side effects.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: A towering volcano in Mexico is roaring back to life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (voice-over): The volcano has been spewing plumes of gas and ash for about two weeks. It is the second highest volcano in North America. It's been putting on a pretty spectacular sight. You see some of it there, but authorities, well, they're saying that there's no reason for thousands of nearby residents to evacuate, at least for now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: I don't know about you, Reynolds, but I might be hightailing it out of town about right now.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Why take a chance? When you have a mountain that's got fire coming out of the top, it's usually the time to head the a safer place. That's always my thought. When you live in that area or anywhere close to the Pacific ring of fire, you deal with volcanos quite a bit.
Something else that you deal with quite a bit around the Pacific: earthquakes. And speaking of one we actually had an earthquake reported in Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California. The earthquake that popped up just near the Los Angeles area was actually a 4.1. Not exactly a monster of a earthquake, but there have been some aftershocks around 2.0.
Not unusual al all to have that kind of activity in Southern California or anywhere along the San Andreas fault, so just sit tight. No damage reported as I mentioned. But still something to just keep an eye on.
Speaking of things shaking, you're going to have windows rattling across parts of Texas and Oklahoma and into the Ohio valley. You've got this frontal boundary that is zipping from West to East, interacting with quite a bit of Gulf moisture, and that combined with your daytime heating could give you a chance of thunderstorms, maybe some that could reach severe levels and you can't rule out the chance of a tornado. That is for Texas and Oklahoma and even parts of the Ohio valley.
Plenty of sunshine in the Northeast. The Southeast is going to be a bit of a mix in places like here in Atlanta. When you head to the extreme Southeast in Florida, look for a chance of thunderstorms. We'll have some backups there. Snow falling still in parts of the Central and Northern Rockies.
I think if you happen if you happen to be tuning in from Jackson Hole, maybe even up towards Yellowstone National Park, you should be okay. High elevations will get some snow. Certainly not the case in the Southland where Atlanta and Memphis are going into the mid-80s; 82 in Houston, 61 in Denver, 43 in Billings, 68 in San Francisco, 76 in Los Angeles, and 60 degrees your high expected in New York. That's a quick look at your forecast, Randi, let's send it back to you.
KAYE: All right, Reynolds. This is about my favorite story of the day, I think. We're going to have that for you in just a moment, but in the meantime, forget beer and liquor. Some teens are now getting drunk by guzzling hand sanitizer. Yes, hand sanitizer. Most of them are even posting it on YouTube. Take a look:
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to pay $5 for the cameras.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. (END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: That is just hard to watch. As you can imagine, drinking it is extremely dangerous. In fact, emergency rooms around the country are seeing more hospitalized because of it. Why are so many teens drinking hand sanitizer and then bragging about it? I asked our Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Who would have thought that kids would be doing this because it seems so disgusting, I mean, it's hand sanitizer. But the you have a lot of alcohol in those hand sanitizers. So you drink two ounces of hand sanitizer, and you're getting three ounces of 80-proof tequila.
KAYE: Wow.
COHEN: OK, the equivalent in alcohol of three ounces of 80-proof tequila. And hey don't necessarily just drink it straight up. They add ingredients to make it taste better. Some people have figured out how to separate the gel from the alcohol. They've gotten very creative about it.
KAYE: Yeah, and they're putting this all out there on YouTube. Others kids are seeing it, so it's gaining popularity. How many kids are we talking about here?
COHEN: We don't know how many kids are actually doing this, but we did contact the Poison Control Center. Most of the kids who called the Poison Control Center, they ended up being fined. Maybe they went to the hospital and got some IV fluids, but every so often you got a kid who got really, seriously ill. I mean, really, seriously ill, because it can, I mean, alcohol poisoning can kill you.
KAYE: Yes, but what is a parent to do or even just society? It's not like you're going to wipe off the hand sanitizer off the store shelves. What is a parent do?
COHEN: If you are worried about your child drinking too much, if you've seen evidence that your child is drinking too much, this is possibly the time to take that hand sanitizer off the counter and put it somewhere where they can't find it.
KAYE: Two words of advice: soap and water.
COHEN: There you go. We don't need hand sanitizer. It's a wonderful product, but you don't need it.
KAYE: All right, Elizabeth, thank you.
COHEN: OK, thanks.
KAYE: All right. Now my favorite story of the day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
A stray pup named Cactus Jack has a new home. Take a look at this little guy. He was found last week, stuck in a cactus covered in spines, but someone rescued the 8-week old yorkie terrier after hearing him cry, and the good Samaritan pulled out a bucket full of spines.
So many people, in fact, fell in love with this story and wanted to adopt him, the Arizona Humane Society had hold a lottery to pick his new owner, and the lucky winner was Sara Messerschmidt. She says she was touched by cactus jack's story.
SARA MESSERSCHMIDT, DOGS NEW OWNER: This story just was heart- wrenching, heartbreaking, but the thing that just drew my heart to it was the fact that he just kept wagging his tail.
KAYE: His new owner is now debating whether or not to change his name. Isn't he just adorable?
KAYE: Check out this 200-pound bear dangling from a tree, holding on for dear life. There he goes. He drops onto a thick mat below. This is at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Students apparently spotted the sleepy bear napping in the tree. They called wildlife officials. The rangers came and tranquilized it, causing it to fall -- but safely fall -- out of the tree. They tagged the bear, and the good news is, they released it into the Colorado wilderness. Right? How many times can you watch that? I'm just happy the bear is okay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: You don't hear much about Kazakhstan in the news. Remember it was actor Sacha Baron Cohan who put it on the map in his movie "Borat." Kazakhstan has banned it, but now they love it now. We'll tell you why, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. Remember the movie, "Borat?" Actor Sacha Baron Cohen plays a fake journalist from Kazakhstan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SACHA BARON COHEN AS "BORAT": My name is Borat. I come from Kazakhstan. My government sent me to U.S.&A. to make a movie film. Please, you look.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Well, Kazakhstan, turns out, banned the movie because it mocked its people, but now the country is showing it some love, and Nadia Bilchik is joining me to talk about this. So the Kazak government changed their minds.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Exactly. Huge turnaround. Foreign Minister, Kazykhanov, said just this week, "We thank you, Borat, because tourism has increased ten-fold."
KAYE: Who knew there was tourism there in Kazakhstan? BILCHIK: Well, there is now, in fact, the foreign minster says the following. He says: "With the release of this film, the number of visas issued by Kazakhstan grew ten-fold. I am grateful to "Borat" for helping attract tourists to our country, Kazakhstan.
KAYE: I find this really funny because they banned the film, and then you had that whole situation with -- that huge embarrassing situation -- when the wrong anthem was sung at some -- a Kuwaiti sporting event?
BILCHICK: At an athletic Olympic event in March of this year, they played the "Borat" version, which is absolutely hysterical, of the anthem that lords pimps and prostitution. So there it is. Let's take a look:
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BILCHICK: The only person who probably realized was the athlete herself.
KAYE: You can see it on her face.
BILCHICK: We are Kazakhstan, proud of pimps and prostitution. But it has been rectified since then, I'm happy to tell you. That is not going to happen again.
KAYE: No, I don't think so. So, I guess if Kazakhstan can benefit, there must be some other places that benefit when movies are done?
BILCHICK: Oh, yes. Twilight. Don't you want to go to Forks, Washington? On the "Twilight" tour, you can go to the rainiest city in the country and see what Bella saw, and you might see a werewolf or a vampire.
KAYE: You think?
BILCHICK: Of course, we could also go to New Zealand, couldn't we? For "Lord of the Rings," you can go to 150 different places in New Zealand on the official "Lord of the Rings" tour and see middle earth.
KAYE: So if you wanted to do this, how do we find out about it?
BILCHICK: Well, there are great websites, but there's one in particular that is movie-location.com and it'll give you any move you want to see or any movie location you want to see, and there it is. So, for example, if you are dying to know where "The Sound of Music" was shot, that is the No. 1 most favorite location.
KAYE: Really?
BILCHICK: Off to Austria.
KAYE: Let's go.
And CNN NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with Alison Kosik, who is in for Fredricka Whitfield, who is on assignment. Hello to you. ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: There's a lot going on today for a Saturday. I was looking at the rundown. So the legal guys are going to be with us during the noon hour. They're going to be talking about all the hellacious headlines in the John Edwards trial. Also a story about a new York Woman who was fired after donating a kidney to her boss. Now what she's doing is she's suing her former boss, her former employer. She says they were kind of mean to her after she made that donation.
Also, the president rallied college students this week to try to get Congress to stop student loan rates from doubling in July. Accusations right now are going back and forth on Capitol Hill that this issue has really become too politicized, but you can agree with this, Randi. No matter what your politics are, the reality is: if you're taking out a student loan, your kids are taking out their student loans, you really need to figure out how to get all that under control.
We're going for find out some ways to do that and ways parents and grandparents can chip in as well. Fredricka Whitfield on assignment. She's in New Orleans for the jazz and heritage festival. She's going to have some really cool tidbits from that.
KAYE: That doesn't sound like a very tough assignment.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Beach Boys, Cee Lo Green, Steel Pulse, all descending on New Orleans for two weekends of the Jazz and Heritage Fest. Ill be talking face-to-face with some of the musicians and some of the masterminds behind bringing thousands of people here every year.
KOSIK: So look for Fredricka's Jazzfest report today and Sunday. She looks like she's having fun out there.
KAYE: She does. I'd be having fun, too.
KOSIK: Yes, nice and warm.
KAYE: Yeah, no kidding. New Orleans a great town, great place for Jazzfest. OK, Alison, we'll see you in a little bit.
Coming up, we'll have much more right after this break.
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KAYE: Top stories that are making headlines, a group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will finish up the last leg of a 100k bike ride. Former President George W. Bush led them through 30 miles of a rugged Texas Canyon for the second leg of that trip yesterday. That's pretty impressive. Some of the vets had been seriously wounded in battle, some lost limbs, others have post-traumatic distress disorder.
Now to the nation's capital where a family said a funeral home cremated their father but gave them someone else's remains. The box they received had someone else's name on it. The funeral home claimed it delivered the right remains, but labeled them wrong. And now, the family wants to do a DNA test.
And in Kansas, an 8-year-old boy helped stop a burglary. Cade Hall was playing video games when a stranger came into his house and grabbed his mom's purse.
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CADE HALL: When I seen his face, I thought, that's nobody I've ever seen before. He came in, yanked on it, and I yanked back. He yanked harder. He ran out the door.
KAYE (voice-over): His dad chased after the suspect. The man ran into a busy highway, turns out, and was hit by the car. He's now in the hospital. By the way, that purse, well, it had no money in it.
KAYE: First Secret Service prostitution scandal in Colombia and now this. A Brazilian woman said three U.S. Marines and an embassy staffer hired her and some of her friends for sex last December but an argument ensued. She said the embassy's Brazilian driver then ran her over. Shasta Darlington spoke to her and her attorney.
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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The photos show a broken collar bone and what appear to be tire marks across her abdomen. Romilda Aparedida Ferreira uses these pictures to tell her story.
Ferreira says she said she worked for three years as a call girl and stripper at the night club, Apple's in Brasilia. On December 29th, she and three co-workers left the club with a group of Americans from the U.S. embassy security team.
ROMILDA APARECIDA FERREIRA (through translator): We had drinks and chatted then each set a price, she says.
DARLINGTON (voice-over): In Brazil, prostitution is legal. The police report says the men, three Marines and one embassy employee called for an embassy van and driver to pick them up.
DARLINGTON (on camera): But the lengthy police report has contradictory accounts about what happened next. After they left this strip club in the van, Farreira she says she was violently thrown out of the car by one of the Marines after she argued with the Brazilian driver. Other witnesses say she was rudely forced out. The Marines say she simply stepped out of the car and injured herself when she tried to get back in.
Everyone agrees the van took off while Farreira was holding onto the door handle.
FARREIRA (through translator): That's when it dragged me and ripped the skin off my leg. I let go and the back tire drove over me, literally right over me.
DARLINGTON (voice-over): According to the police report, the van stopped and the other women got out. Then with the embassy staffers inside, the van drove off leaving Ferreira in the road. This week in Brasilia, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said these men were disciplined.
LEON PANETTA, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: They are no longer in this country, they were reduced in rank and they were severely punished for that behavior. I have no tolerance for that kind of conduct, not here or any place in the world.
DARLINGTON (voice-over): Questions about prostitution made for awkward moments at the U.S. State Department briefing.
VICTORIA NULAND, SPOKESWOMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: Members of the Foreign Service are prohibited from engaging in notoriously disgraceful conduct, which includes frequenting prostitutes and engaging in public or promiscuous sexual relations or engaging in sexual activity that could open the employee up to the possibility of blackmail, coercion or improper influence. So the degree to which any employee requires investigation, that's the standard they are held to. What a subject to be talking about on "bring your kid to work day."
DARLINGTON (voice-over): Farreira says she's no longer working as a prostitute. She says she turned down an offer of $2,000 for medical expenses because it wasn't enough for a broken collar bone, three broken ribs and punctured lung.
Meanwhile her attorney is preparing a civil suit.
ANTONIO RODRIGO MACHADO, ATTORNEY (through translator): It's not a question of money. It's a question of honor and reputation, he says. If money will make them suffer and recognize how much pain they have caused, then let it be money.
DARLINGTON: Machado says Brazilian prosecutors are considering criminal charges against the Americans, including assault. But since the men are no longer in the country, it's not clear whether they would ever face trial in Brazil. Shasta Darlington, CNN, Brasilia.
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KAYE: Well, if you don't pay a traffic fine, you should buy a red light camera in Las Cruces, New Mexico, you could have utilities shut off. The city will shut of water, sewage, and even your gasoline. That's because violators have racked up an estimated $2 million in debt over the past three years. The city says it is fed up. Residents have already begun receiving final warnings.
A school in California is using dogs to help kids learn to read. Teachers say the therapy dogs help take away the anxiety of learning to read because the animals won't judge a child when they make a mistake. The school started the program two months ago and say it's been a huge success. The kids, well, they like it, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It helps me relax, and it helps me read the book.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KAYE: So cute. A recent UC Davis study found kids who read to dogs once a week can improve their skills. By the way, the dogs that are volunteers have to pass a test to enter the program. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Alison Kosik who is in for Fredricka Whitfield. Wasn't that adorable?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Really adorable. Thanks, Randi, enjoy the rest of your afternoon.
KAYE: Thank you.
