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CNN Saturday Morning News
Space Shuttle Endeavor Reaches Los Angeles; Political Pundits Weigh in on Vice Presidential Debate; Pakistani Human Rights Activist in Critical Condition after Assault; Army Sergeant Has Preventive Mastectomy; Bullied Girl Commits Suicide
Aired October 13, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Playing politics with voters IDs, both parties fighting it out in battleground states about who gets to vote and how. All morning, we are putting voter ID laws in focus. Another teen tortured by bullies. After a desperate plea on YouTube, we'll show you the drastic measure she took to escape.
And the long road home, space shuttle Endeavour is on the move, cruising the streets of L.A. towards its final resting place. We'll take you there live.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It's 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 a.m. on the west. Let's start right there in Los Angeles with the shuttle Endeavour. It has been on the move for most of the morning, but it still has a long way to go, a long way if you happen to be trying to move an 85-on the space shuttle. CNN's John Zarrella is live with us watching it all go by. John, good morning. Tell us just how slow is this thing actually going?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's funny because in orbit, it goes 17,500 miles an hour, and on the streets of Los Angeles, its top speed has been about two miles an hour. So this is certainly the slowest the shuttle has probably ever gone and it's one of shortest trips it's ever made, a total of 12 miles from LAX, Los Angeles airport, where it left yesterday to the California science center, which will be its new and final home. They are about halfway home now.
We can see from some of the live pictures we have out there now. They're about four blocks from where we are just off of Manchester, and this is one of the areas where they expect that about 5,000 people will be gathering here as the shuttle goes by. This is the old forum arena here where the Los Angeles Lakers used to play, and they've cordoned this whole area of as a viewing area for Endeavour as it goes by.
Now, one of the tricky spots was last night as it crossed over the 405 expressway about midnight local time here, and it was actually towed by a pickup truck across the 405 because they were concerned about weight. And they had to lessen the weight. So they had to move it to a different transport system. But it has been a phenomenal couple of days here. And Randi, it's funny, we talk about the space program and people always talk about well, they're blase about it, and it doesn't have the juice, so to speak, that it once did. But when we saw the crowds yesterday and the people, and people standing on their roofs with American flags out and looking out their windows and watching this whole process, you know you still know that there is a tremendous amount of pride in the accomplishments that have made by the U.S. space program and by the space shuttles, which clearly will always be remembered as perhaps the most remarkable flying machines that we will ever see. You can see the crowd gathered there behind me.
KAYE: I see that, but also along the way as we have been looking at those live pictures throughout the morning, you see the people lining the streets there. They look like tiny little ants next to the size of the Endeavor. It's pretty great to see. Is it smooth going from here on in, do you think, John, or any more obstacles along the way?
ZARRELLA: Yes, they have got a couple hurdles to go yet. When they get to the mall area where there will be performances. In fact, Debby Allen, the great choreographer dancer, there's supposed to be a spectacular performance by her, and they have Cirque du Soleil dancers there as well. That's going to be a little later this afternoon.
But when they get there and a couple of other places, they're literally going to be two inches of clearance on either side of the space shuttle, which has a 78-foot wingspan. The reason for that is there was quite a bit of controversy over the cutting down of some 400 trees along the route in order to allow the shuttle to make this journey, but they try to preserve as many of the older trees as they could in some of those areas where it will be passing later today. So that's why they've got some very, very tight clearances. But they're confident this they can do it.
KAYE: It is going to be a tight squeeze, though, no doubt. John Zarrella there watching it all for us. John, thank you. And we will, of course, continue to watch the movement of Endeavor throughout the morning. Keep it here on CNN. We'll continue to bring those amazing pictures to you as it winds its way through Los Angeles.
And now to Denver, where police are investigating a shooting at President Obama's campaign office there. It was a single shot right into the window. There were people inside the office, but no one was injured. Police are reviewing video surveillance tapes of the area. Right now they may have a vehicle of interest, but no suspects.
President Obama was nowhere near Denver last night. Instead, he was out to dinner in D.C. with a few select supporters. His dinner guests were actually donors who won the trip in a contest on the president's campaign Web site. The president heads to Williamsburg, Virginia, today, to do a little debate prep.
Mitt Romney heads off for debate prep tonight, but first he and Paul Ryan have got a busy day of campaigning planned. He's spending another day in Ohio speaking in Lancaster. Romney talked about how proud he was of the vice presidential choice and Ryan's performance at the debate earlier this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We got to watch this guy debate, and there was one person on the stage with thoughtfulness, who was respectful, who was steady and poised. There's one person on that stage you'd want to be with if there were a crisis, and it's this man right here.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Romney and Ryan are both in Ohio today. This is the live picture from Youngstown. Paul Ryan will be speaking there in just a few minutes from now. Ohio is one of the key swing states for both Romney and Obama. Both have spent a whole lot of time there talking to voters. So how are the voters receiving all that attention? CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser joining us now to talk about that. Good morning to you what. Is the story in Ohio?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Ohio -- it sounds like a broken record. But these candidates keep going back to Ohio, the second straight day for Mitt Romney. The president was just there earlier this week. Here's my unofficial count here. Since the start of the general election, which was usually considered early April, the president has now made 12 swings through Ohio. This is the 16th swing for Mitt Romney. Over $91 million spent by the campaigns, the party committees, the super PAC in Ohio to run TV ads there. And guess what, that's just through last week. In this past week the Obama campaign spent about $2.5 million and the Romney campaign spent $2.5 million.
And 18 electoral votes at stake in such an important state. This is the state that put President George W. Bush over the top in 2004. Mitt Romney really needs to win it to win the White House this time around. And Bruce Springsteen and the former president Bill Clinton will be in Ohio in a couple of days to campaign for the president. This is Springsteen's first time on the campaign trail this year for the president. He campaigned for Obama four years ago.
What do the polls look like in Ohio? Here you go. Our poll of polls, a very close contest in Ohio, a slight edge to the president. But basically all tied up there, Randi.
KAYE: Probably a lot closer than the Obama campaign wants, which probably means he'll be prepping pretty hard for debate number two coming on Tuesday night.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. In fact, he's leaving today for Williamsburg, Virginia, Virginia a swing state. He's basically going to be behind closed doors getting ready preparing for Tuesday's debate. Mitt Romney is putting some debate prep in as well. Remember, Tuesday's debate is going to be very different than what we saw a week and a half ago. This is going to be a town hall format. That means not only will the moderator ask questions, but so will members of the audience. It's going to be both on domestic and international affairs. And about that moderator, I think we both know that's going to be our own Candy Crowley. So I'm really looking forward to this debate.
KAYE: Paul Steinhauser, nice to see you. Thank you.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
KAYE: Thursday's vice presidential debate was a real talker, and while the experts and analysts sifted through the facts, what did people at home wonder about? This is Google's list of the top Internet searches right after the debate. Biden "conflating," and "malarkey," one of Biden's favorite words. It's how he described some of Paul Ryan's facts.
Here's another Google nugget. Just type in the words "completely wrong" into the images search, and what you get are Mitt Romney pictures and quotes over and over. Google says it is not intentional. It is just the result of normal search algorithms.
Now, Google voter ID, you'll see lots of stories about new laws and controversies. We'll break down both sides, plus look ahead to Tuesday's second presidential debate.
But first, the question for all you political junkies watching this morning, we vote for president on the first Tuesday of November every four years, but that wasn't always the case. In what month did the very first presidential election take place? If you know the answer, you can tweet me @RandiKayeCNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back, everyone. Before the break, I asked if you knew the answer to this question. Take a look. In what month was the very first presidential election held? Well, the answer is actually January, 1789. It wasn't until 1842 that a federal law said the election would be on the first Tuesday in November.
Time is running out in the presidential campaign. There are now just over three weeks left, and as we are seeing in so many closely contested states, every vote is going to count. That shines an even brighter light on new voter I.D. laws, which is our focus this morning. Joining me now are CNN contributors Maria Cardona and Reihan Salam. Good morning to both of you. Maria, I'm going to start with you this morning. We have heard the arguments from both sides but how many people do we really think will be left out of the process now?
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, there's certainly the possibility for millions of voters to be disenfranchised with the stricter voter I.D. laws that have been enacted around the country, which frankly are egregious, and they are a deliberate tactic to take away the right to vote for frankly what normally are Democratic constituencies. We're talking about African-Americans, Latinos, students.
But also in the mix are military veterans, millions of seniors, people who are living in poverty. And, again, this is a very egregious action by Republican legislatures around the country to really keep Democratic constituencies from voting. Let's look no further than the head of the Republican legislature in Pennsylvania, who basically said that enacting the voters ID law in Pennsylvania would make sure that Mitt Romney wins that state. So we have to be vigilant. We have to make sure that voters know the changes in these laws and make sure that they have everything they need in order to go out to vote.
KAYE: Reihan, what do you think?
REIHAN SALAM, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Pennsylvania is a great example. Unfortunately, there's a lot of confusion. Earlier this month, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that the voter I.D. law provisions would not be in effect for this year because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that the law could not the used to disenfranchise any voters. And so there was a judge who said, well, wait a second, that means that we can't actually implement this just yet because there's not enough time to be sure that every eligible voter will be able to vote.
You also saw a state judge do something similar in Wisconsin, which also passed a very strict voter I.D. law. And then you also have a lot of other states where you said, yes, there is going to be a voter I.D. restriction, but will also allow a sworn affidavit to be used in lieu of voter I.D. There are many voter I.D. laws that were actually pre- cleared by the justice department and a small handful that were not and those that were not have basically been suspended.
There are other legitimate concerns about voting. For example, in Florida, there was a purge of the voter registration rules. That is a real concern. And also in Ohio, there's a lot of controversy about whether or not the voter laws are going to be consistent across the state, and also about whether or not if you're sent to the wrong precinct table, if your vote will be counted. That's still a live battle. But on voter ID in particular, you've seen a lot of moves that are going to protect a lot of the voters that Maria is concerned about.
KAYE: Let me ask you -- certainly a lot of people are concerned about that. But I also want to talk about the vice presidential debate that we all witnessed this week. I'm going to put this one in two categories, style and substance, if you will. Maria, to you first. Who won on style and who won on substance?
CARDONA: It depends on what you mean by style, because I've got to tell you the Democratic base loved the style that the Vice President Biden was demonstrating, and that was essentially dominating the stage, making sure that he didn't take any opportunity -- that he took every opportunity, didn't let anything slide in terms of being aggressive and forceful on correcting Ryan on all of the misconceptions even in his own record, in Romney's record, or the president's record. So I think if you look at that in terms of style, then you would say that the vice president won, and also in terms of substance and laying out what the truth was for President Obama's record as well as the Romney-Ryan record, and how destructful (ph) it would be to middle class families and I think that was being underscored by the vice president.
KAYE: I think I heard a lot of folks saying Biden was going to put fact checkers out of business because he was basically fact checking the debate along the way. Reihan, what do you think?
SALAM: I'll say some of the fact checking was creating some distractions. He referred to an older version of Paul Ryan's Medicare version, which is very different from the 2011 version that Joe Biden cited. So he was very good at doing that kind of thing to make it seem like he was fact checking, whereas in fact he was introducing extraneous information, sometimes false information.
But overall I would agree with Maria that Joe Biden was very vigorous and very effective, and I think Democrats were definitely very pleased with his performance. I also think that Republicans were generally pretty pleased with Paul Ryan's performance. So I'd overall say that you could come away from that debate with many different impressions.
KAYE: There was an interesting CNN-ORC poll that I wanted to share with both of you. The question was, is Ryan qualified to be president? And the answer, 60 percent said yes, and 38 percent said no. So Maria, what do you say to that?
CARDONA: Well, I think that he's right in terms of a lot of Republicans -- and I think Democrats, too, saw that Ryan held his own. He had a solid performance. And so I think that judging from that, a lot of voters said, well, you know, if this ticket is elected, then Paul Ryan would certainly have at some point the standing to be president. and so I think in that sense, a lot of Republicans were happy with the job performance that he laid out in the vice presidential debate.
But again -- and I agree, you can come out of this, both parties, very happy with what happened. I call it sort of the political equivalent of the inkblot test, which is you see it for what you want to see in it and for what you need to take away from it.
KAYE: Reihan, I'll give you the last word.
SALAM: I think that Paul Ryan was very solid. And another concern was lot of folks were worried that Ryan would overshadow Mitt Romney earlier in the campaign. I think that now there's a sense of him as a solid junior partner who is qualified for the job, but is not overshadowing his senior partner.
KAYE: Very interesting conversation. Thank you both.
SALAM: Thank you.
CARDONA: Thanks so much, Randi.
KAYE: She is being called "Pakistan's daughter." A 14-year-old who spoke out for her rights on education is now fighting for her life and is inspiring a nation in the process. Malala's story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Getting an education is something many of us take for granted. A 14-year-old Pakistani girl did not, and now she's lying in a hospital bed fighting for her life. Gunmen shot her last week because she dared to go to school and because she dared to speak out against the feared Taliban militants. Officials say the next 48 hours are critical for her. CNN's Reza Sayah has more now on the teen activist who has inspired people around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bloodstains cover the seats of an old canopied pickup truck Malala Yousafzai and her classmates rode together to get home from school. This is where mala was sitting, police say, when gunmen shot her in the head. Malala's friend was sitting next to her, she says, when one of the attackers stopped the truck. Another came around the back gun in hand.
"When we saw the gun, we started screaming," she says. "He asked "who's Malala?" I don't think anyone told him, but he recognized Malala and started shooting. Malala fell down, but he kept firing. That's when my friend and I got injured." Kainat is recovering from a bullet wound to the hand. The 14-year-old Malala, who had a high profile blog, critical of the Taliban, is clinging to life following major surgery.
The passenger truck now part of an intense investigation to find the gunman. The Pakistani government under increasing pressure to solve the case, has given conflicting accounts of the probe. The interior minister says the two gunmen have been identified and arrests are coming soon. The foreign minister told CNN 100 people are detained for questioning. A regional police chief says 35 people are in custody for questioning. Three blame Malala's shooting on a man with suspected links to the Taliban. The Taliban have already claimed they plotted the attack. The police say still no hard evidence who pulled the trigger. On Friday, the outpouring of support continued with a message from the prime minister, and vigils across the country. Pakistanis young and old praying for Malala, a 14-year-old human rights activist whose legend grows by the day.
TAHIRA ABDULLA, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: She, a little child, gives older people hope and inspiration and sanity, and brings us back from depression and dejection.
SAYAH: A top government official says in the coming days, doctors will be keeping a close eye on the swelling in Malala's brain, swelling after brain surgery a big concern. Of course the brain is closed in a hard casing, the skull. Unlike other parts of the body, the swelling doesn't have anywhere to go. That's why doctors say they'll keep a close eye on it. Much of this nation, much of the world keeping a close eye on Malala's health as well.
Reza Sayah, CNN, Islamabad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: "New York Times" columnist Nick Kristoff has also been following Malala's story. He wrote an op-ed piece about Malala called "Her crime was loving schools." He praised Malala's outspoken bravery in the face of militants, and I spoke with Nick earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK KRISTOFF, "NEW YORK TIMES" COLUMNIST: This is an individual tragedy, but there's also a larger narrative here. The Taliban shot her in the head and the neck, not because they dislike her, but because they understand that girls' education is a profound threat to everything that they stand for, and I wish that we would also absorb that lesson. The best line of attack we have against the Taliban is not necessarily drones, it's girls' education, getting people into schools.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: In his piece, he also pointed out that last Thursday, two days after mala was shot was the first international day of the girl.
Coming up, I'll talk with a healthy, beautiful 29-year-old woman, wife, mother, Iraq war veteran. But there is something about her that you might find surprising. We'll show you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back, everyone. About half past the hour. I'm Randi Kaye.
Even jaded Los Angeles residents are a little star struck this morning by their newest visitor. Take a look. Wow. These are some live pictures. The space shuttle Endeavor, there it is, rolling through the streets of L.A., what an incredible sight. It's heading to its final home, the California science center, where it will go on display later this month, moving at about two miles an hour. It should get there around midnight. Eager residents have even climbed under rooftops to get the best view of Endeavor on the move. John Zarrella is there. John, you've told us that some folks have brought out the American flag. There's a great sense of patriotism watching all of this unfold.
ZARRELLA: Yes, absolutely, Randi. It has just now come into view ahead of schedule here at the forum behind me. You can see Endeavor and these thousands of people who have gathered getting a tremendous view of the space shuttle, and I'm joined by Stephanie Stilson, who with NASA, who was responsible for getting all three of these orbiters ready. Stephanie, I bet you never in your wildest dreams could have imagined seeing one of your shuttles on the streets of any city.
STEPHANIE STILSON, NASA SHUTTLE PROCESSOR: No, not at all. Does make me a little bit nervous, I have to admit that, to see that out in the open. We're not used to having so many people around it. But it's been a great journey so far. Everybody's been very respectful around the vehicle.
ZARRELLA: You're used to having complete control over these things. You don't have it anymore.
STILSON I got to walk with it yesterday. Got to make sure it didn't touch any trees along the way. They did very well.
ZARRELLA: A tremendous amount of pride we're seeing by the American public. Probably more than you expected.
STILSON: The whole community, people are so enthusiastic. When sit going to get here? I've been honored to be a part of that.
ZARRELLA: Randi, there it is behind us at the forum. And the space shuttle Endeavor. You hear the music playing, all that spacey kind of music that they like to play for these events out here. But what a spectacular morning view here, clear blue skies. The sun just coming up over the horizon here, and Endeavor about halfway to its new home at the California science center. Randi?
KAYE: John Zarrella, thank you. That is so thrilling to watch that all happening live there before our eyes. We will continue to follow Endeavor's final mission there to its final resting place and bring those live pictures to you throughout morning. So be sure to keep it here.
My next guest is a healthy, beautiful 29-year-old woman who looks just like anyone else that you might pass on the street. She is a wife, mother of two, a soldier in the U.S. military, and an Iraq war veteran. But you should note something else about her, something that you can't see in these pictures. She doesn't have any breasts. She made a decision that thousands of women make every year to remove her breasts for a preventative mastectomy. That's right, preventive, so she was never diagnosed with cancer. But it's what she did after the surgery that is not as common. Margaret Smith joining me now. Margaret, good morning. Thank you for joining me on the show to share your story.
MARGARET SMITH, SERGEANT, UNITED STATES ARMY: I'm pleased to be here.
KAYE: Margaret, first, tell me why did you decide to have your breasts removed?
SMITH: I've seen -- breast cancer is in my family. My mother has been battling the disease for over 20 years now. My aunt Chris passed away from the disease back in 2001. And I found out that I had inherited the gene, the mutation number two, from my mother. After that, there's a couple options that you're able to choose from and I chose to go with the most drastic and chose preventive surgeries.
KAYE: You actually sent us a picture of yourself post-on. I want to share with it our viewers. It may be a bit uncomfortable for some of them to look at but we want to show it because it really gets to the heart of the question. Why are people so uncomfortable about this issue, do you think, as we look at this picture of you?
SMITH: Well, it's a drastic measure to take care of something that hasn't even happened to me yet. It's a possibility. And I chose to do something that modified my body in a pretty drastic way. And it was in a response to just knowing that I had the possibility of getting breast cancer, or ovarian cancer in the future. It wasn't a retroactive action. It was a proactive action.
KAYE: So many women, though, would follow this up and follow up the surgery that you had with reconstructive surgery. So why did you choose not to?
SMITH: Well, I had my surgery at Walter Reed because I am in the army. One of the first people that they had me see after I saw the surgeon was to see a plastic surgeon. And when I told them that I wasn't planning on having reconstructive surgery, he was like, well, we'll schedule another appointment and we'll talk about it again. I was like no, I'm not planning on having it. So it took a while to convince people that I was actually serious about not having reconstruction. My mother, who has had a bilateral mastectomy as well, never got reconstruction, so I'm comfortable with it, I've seen it. It's kind of a sense of freedom. I don't have to wear undergarments anymore.
KAYE: Any woman can relate to that.
SMITH: Yes. And also, at the time that I had my surgery, my daughter was only 11-months-old. So post mastectomy, you're not supposed to lift anything heavier than a milk jug for a good month. With an 11- month-old, all you want to do is roll around and wrestle and cuddle and be able to hold them. So that was part of it. Additionally, I'm in the army, so push-ups are a big thing. You have to be able to have push-ups on your army physical fitness test. So I thought about that. With reconstruction, they put the --
KAYE: It sounds like there were a lot of important decisions in this decision. Let me bring in Sue Friedman, executive director of FORCE, a group fighting hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Sue, good morning. Why do you think the number of women getting preventative mastectomies is on the rise?
SUE FRIEDMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER, FORCE: I think it's a complicated issue. We're seeing awareness about inherited cancer risk. And the medical community is getting better at being able to assess what people's risk is. More people are seeing genetics experts to find out what their risk is. And if their risk is incredibly high, we now have the research to show that risk-reducing surgery can substantially lower the risk, particularly the people at very high risk for these cancers.
KAYE: How many people make the decision not to have reconstructive surgery? Is that on the rise as well?
FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, when we're talking about preventative surgery, it's a little bit different. People who are not under the diagnosis of cancer have a little more time to research their options. And so, you know, it's important for people to understand their resources out there for women to find out what their options are, and there are a lot of options out there, and the options are getting better. And it ends up being a very personal decision.
So reconstruction is getting better. There's new ways to reconstruct a breast using your own tissue, using the fat from your body, new surgeries that don't require multiple surgeries to do implant reconstruction. And for someone who chooses not to reconstruct, which is absolutely an option, they can change their mind later and go reconstruction later down the road if they change their minds. KAYE: Let me bring Margaret back in. Do you think you'll have any regrets over this? And I'm curious how your family and friends reacted as well.
SMITH: I don't have any regrets whatsoever. I'm a runner. I like to run marathons. So running without having to worry about breast bouncing is a definite plus.
Additionally, I had full support from my husband in terms of opting not to get reconstruction. We researched it quite extensively and determined that there just wasn't really any point. We're not really a cocktail family. We're more of an outdoorsy family. So we had no issues with that.
And it's also -- when you really think about it, it's a cosmetic surgery that I would look normal in regular clothes. But for me, that just didn't matter. And it's also been a lot more comfortable without having to go through the process of reconstruction.
But as Sue said, I haven't burned any bridges. I can go back any time at any stage in my life where I do want to have reconstruction, and I can, which is important. It would be a whole different decision, I think, if it was an end all and be all thing.
KAYE: Thank you so much for sharing your story, coming on the show.
SMITH: Thank you for having me.
KAYE: Sue Friedman, thank you to you as well. Appreciate that.
FRIEDMAN: Thank you for having us on. And I wanted to say facingourrisk.org. We have a lot of resources about mastectomies. We'll have about 10 plastic surgeons there and 580 people attending, mostly people who are high risk for cancer.
KAYE: All right, good to know. Thank you very much.
A student bullied and an ending no parent ever wants to imagine. The tragic choice of a Canadian teenager and how you can help others like her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: On this program, I've covered bullying from many different angles. I've spoken to victims, to parents and lawmakers. Today I'm sharing a story from Canada about a girl who simply couldn't take it anymore. Amanda Todd is a Vancouver teen who shared her story on YouTube last month. A nearly nine-month video chronicles her depression, anxiety, and even attempted suicide. The 15-year-old had been bullied for poor choices she made back in the seventh grade. Amanda took a racy picture and sent it to one person over the Internet. The next thing she knew, those photos were all over her school.
Amanda switched schools, moved cities, tried to make new friends, but her history followed her, and, yes, so did the bullies. Here is just a part of Amanda's video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Amanda Todd never found that someone. She was found dead Wednesday. Authorities believe she finally succeeded in attempting suicide. Yesterday the Premier of British Columbia Christy Clark issued a stern warning against bullying on YouTube.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTY CLARK, PREMIER, BRITISH COLUMBIA: No one deserves to be bullied. No one earns it. No one asks for it. It isn't a rite of passage. Bullying has to stop. Every child, everyone needs to be able to feel safe at school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The royal Canadian mounted police have launched an investigation into Amanda's death, but for victims of bullying, there is help. We want you to know that. The Trevor Project provides crisis prevention and suicide prevention services to victims of bullying and LGBT youth. I'm joined now the executive and CEO of the Trevor Project, Abbe Land. Amanda Todd's death is a tragedy certainly that didn't need to happen, like so many others. First, let me ask you, for anyone watching who has a child that might be in trouble, what are resources that are available to teenagers like this?
ABBE LAND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CEO, THE TREVOR PROJECT: Randi, thank you for having me on. There are resources. Amanda's death is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to her family and friends. But there are resources, and part of our job is to act as gate keepers, and there are things like the Trevor Project where we are the leading national suicide prevention and crisis intervention hotline that people can call. It's a lifeline. They can call 24/7 to talk to someone, to talk about what they're feeling and find out why, what is the reason that they should be thinking about other things besides suicide.
We have Trevor chat, and there are chat lines where people can go and talk to people. We also have a wonderful thing called Trevor space, where we have almost 50,000 young people from 138 countries talking to each other, talking about their fears, their experiences, and there's nothing like young people helping each other. And it's really valuable.
KAYE: And just the word "talking" right there really sticks out to me, because teenagers, certainly those who are being bullied, don't really like to talk about it. They hide their feelings quite a bit. So are there signs that parents can watch for or friends can watch for or a counselor, a guidance counselor, a teacher, anyone? What can they look for in a teen? LAND: That's a really good question. And the importance of talking cannot be underestimated. Just last month, September, national suicide prevention month, the surgeon general released a new strategy here in America about how to prevent suicide. And the number one thing was, which is something we at the Trevor Project have known for years, is to talk about it, to talk about suicide.
The things that you can notice is if you have a child and they are talking about suicide, talking about ending their life, if you notice they're talking to their friends and saying goodbye, giving away their prized possessions, if you see that their behavior has changed, and instead of going out and being with their friends they're suddenly isolating themselves, these are signs that you have to notice.
And as a parent, you have to recognize that no matter how good a job you think you're doing, sometimes your child does not want to talk to you because they're going to be talking about the most -- the thing that they're most afraid of. They don't want to disappoint you. They're afraid you won't like what they say. So part of the job of all of us is to make sure we can link a young person to the one person they will talk to, and whether that is another -- a family friend, a guidance counselor, a teacher, or the Trevor Project, or another help line, it's really important we recognize sometimes they're not going to talk to us.
KAYE: Right. Well, what do you do? What about -- where do you rush them off to? Do you rush them off to therapy? Is it just talking to their peers that's going to put an end to this? Sadly, I feel like we talk about this so often and I'm just not sure what the answer is to really put an end to this and to stop bullying.
LAND: Well, bullying is a very complicated matter and why someone chooses to commit suicide and attempt suicide is very, very complicated, and it's going to take a long time. It's a huge public health issue and it's one that we have to working together. And we have to recognize that the bullier often has many issues themselves, issues of lack of self-worth. It's very, very complicated.
What's important is that we make it OK to ask for help. And we have to be willing to do that. Here in America, for a young person who might need mental health services. Only about 60 percent of the young people who have behavioral health problems have access to mental health services. We have to make it OK to ask for help. There's nothing wrong -- it's the bravest thing you can do is to say I need some help, I need someone to talk to.
KAYE: Yes. And in the case of Amanda Todd, she was asking for help in that video, but by the time she might have gotten it, it was already too late. Abbe land, we appreciate you sharing such important information with us. Thank you.
LAND: Thank you, Randi.
KAYE: And once again, Abbe's group is the Trevor Project. You can check it out at thetrevorproject.org. It's a wonderful organization. If you'd like to sound off on stories about bullying, you can tweet me now or any time. Use #bullyingstopshere. You can find me on twitter @randikayeCNN. We'll be right back.
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KAYE: Welcome back. Captivating us all morning are these live pictures of shuttle Endeavor making its way to its final resting place in Los Angeles there. Casey Wian is following it there for us. Casey, an incredible scene. How much farther does Endeavor have to travel before it reaches its new home?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's gone about seven miles so far. It will go another five miles where it will stop at the California Science Center. We've been watching this all day yesterday and all morning. It's been incredible engineering feat. I want to show you a little bit of what's going on here. You can see these sets of wheels here.
Those wheels turn around, spin around and they allow this whole massive platform to move sideways, left, right, backwards and forwards. And that's really critical because we've got some pictures we can show you of the narrow passage it went through earlier this morning. It is clearing some of these street lights, power poles, trees by just inches. There is an operator who maneuvers this whole mechanism with a remote control, a toggle switch. It's really been a close call, but they have gotten it through all of the obstacles so far, Randi.
KAYE: Casey Wian, thank you very much. Again, amazing pictures. We'll continue to follow it. We'll be right back.
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JIMMY FALLON, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: This is big. "Time" magazine published a bunch of pictures of Paul Ryan working out. Have you guys seen these? Take a look at this one here. Yes. Look at this one that really got me. I like this one, the next vice president of the United States. Looks like Screech from "Saved by the Bell."
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KAYE: I don't know, maybe Jimmy Fallon is jealous there of Paul Ryan's muscles.
We have much more ahead in the next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING. you can always continue the conversation with me on twitter, @RandiKayeCNN is where you can find me. And I'll be right back after a very quick break.
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