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Virginia Tech on Lockdown; Stocks Sink as Fears Persist; Congress Urged to End FAA Dispute; The Secret to Longevity is in Your Genes?; Dow Plunges 300-Plus Points; Saving on Rising Energy Bills

Aired August 04, 2011 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Fredericka Whitfield, live from Studio 7.

We have breaking news we want to continue to follow here. Virginia Tech, right now it's on lockdown.

Three kids apparently at a summer camp taking place on that campus say that they saw a man on campus possibly carrying a gun. This was just about two hours ago.

Here's a description they gave authorities of that person. They say that they saw a white male, six feet tall, with light brown hair and no facial hair or glasses, carrying what they believe was a handgun covered with a cloth.

He was wearing a blue and white striped shirt and brown sandals. Officers responded immediately but have not found anyone matching that description.

The sighting was reported outside Dietrick Hall. A lot of sensitivity right here. We want to make it clear that this is not confirmed, it's not a confirmed sighting as of now, but instead authorities are acting on what eyewitness accounts have directed them on.

We have Kelsey Heiter, who is on the phone with us. She is the managing editor of "Collegiate Times" at Virginia Tech.

So, Kelsey, what more can you tell us about what is believed to have taken place on campus?

Hi, Fredricka.

KELSEY HEITER, MANAGING EDITOR, "VIRGINIA TECH COLLEGIATE TIMES" (via telephone): I'm in McComas Hall right now, which is one of our most south points of campus, close to our main entrance on our main road over here. There's just a lot of cop cars around.

I haven't heard any sirens. There's no reports of an actual gunshot sound.

We are in an official lockdown. Doors are completely closed. There are some guards here on campus, but mainly just kind of the hustle and bustle of cop cars, news anchors, things like that. So not a gun (ph) to report. Everyone here is safe. There's no reports of injuries, just kind of a little bit of a scare right now.

WHITFIELD: OK. And you said there was a lockdown taking place, which means a lot of people are not milling around on campus there, not in the school camps, not in the class sessions that are under way right now.

This all taking place, this kind of method of lockdown taking place, because in 2007, everyone remembers what took place on that campus when there was a shooting rampage with one of the students on campus. And what came from that after 33 people were killed -- what came from that was a lot of criticism about the security on campus.

So give me an idea how quickly people who are on campus were alerted about this lockdown.

HEITER: Sure. I think we've had about three or four updates, via text message updates, and also via e-mail updates to our vt.edu address very quickly. I received one, I think about -- well, I don't know as far as the time, the occurrence actually happened. But probably about 10 minutes between the time that they spotted him and the time that we were alerted.

We have received three updates since then. Twitter is all over it. If you just do hashtag VirginiaTech, anyone who wants to go find out things. I'm constantly tweeting. My Twitter is KHeiter.

There's also people who are on campus tweeting. So it's kind of a low situation right now. But like I said, not a lot of action going on outside because we are on lockdown. There's a few cars kind of roaming around, but mainly just police cars that we see.

WHITFIELD: So when you got your text, your message from security on campus that there was this lockdown in place, tell me where you were and what it said specifically and how you reacted.

HEITER: Sure. I was actually in a doctor's appointment. The text specifically said there was a potential gunman spotted on campus.

It said stay inside if you're on campus. It said call 911 if you see anything peculiar or out of the ordinary.

So kind of a run-of-the-mill text, but it is good that they updated us. It's one of the best features here at Virginia Tech that we have.

So, again, it kind of frightens people, it kind of shakes them up a bit. But we are safe, there's been no reported signs of anything, no distress on campus except for the initial sighting.

WHITFIELD: And did it give you, the description that we're reading right now, white male, light brown hair, six feet tall, no glasses or facial hair, wearing blue and white striped shirt, gray shorts, brown sandals -- was there a description like that or any sort of description on that text?

HEITER: The first one, there was not any description. The second, it was kind of just the same as the first. But the third had a full description.

It had -- all of our county police here, Montgomery County, Blacksburg, VT Rescue, all on campus. But it kind of gave us a more thorough update of what is going on, and the suspect and where it was. And actually, where I'm located on campus -- I don't know if you have a map up or anything like that.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, 2007, this campus went through a horrible situation with the one student carrying guns on campus and then unloading, 33 people killed.

Where were you in 2007?

HEITER: I was actually a junior in high school. I'm now a senior at Virginia Tech. So it still hits close to home, but at the same time we are kind of receiving the same updates that everyone is now.

We have a TV on at lunch in our classrooms. But I think today we kind of have a better system, more updated. People are receiving news a lot faster than they were then.

And the good thing is that I have not heard any reported incidents of anyone being hurt or injured or anything of that nature. So, because of 2007, it --

(CROSSTALK) .

WHITFIELD: So, Kelsey, I wonder -- there was never any trepidation about going to Virginia Tech given what took place when you were a junior in high school?

HEITER: Sure, no. I mean, I love Virginia Tech and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I can tell you that.

Every Hokie that's listening right now feels the exact same way. There would be no doubt in my mind that I would ever come here. Campus is very safe. Very, very safe.

We have all the secure measures in place and things like that. And once you're a Hokie, you're always a Hokie. So that's how it is. Virginia Tech stands strong together.

WHITFIELD: So you're a managing editor of the "Collegiate Times" there. Give me an idea of the kind of activity, the student activity that is on campus. We know there are summer camps that are taking place involving a lot of younger age kids that are on campus. There are even some summer school activities for college age kids.

About how many people by your estimation would be on campus at about this time?

HEITER: Well, you know, it is a Thursday, kind of dying down towards the weekend. There are classes going on still, so people could be on campus. But at this time -- people head home this time of the week. So there is some activity in this building. I know there's people at the gym right now. And there's -- honestly, there were people walking outside about 20 minutes ago. But everyone is kind of in their own place right now.

So they could be anywhere. I can't give you an estimate, but maybe from, like, 100 to 300 people on campus, including all the faculty and staff that are at work today. But those are probably the majority of -- everyone is staying inside the buildings, so you don't see a lot of activity going on outside.

WHITFIELD: And we just got an update from university police that they are continuing to look, still. They have not located this suspect or this person that was described by some of the eyewitness summer camp kids there.

How long are you prepared to stay where you are?

HEITER: I mean, honestly, I would rather stay here than kind of chance it, go outside, do anything of that nature. We're -- all of us where I am right now, we're just waiting for an all-clear e-mail, because this is normally what will come next after alerts and things like that.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: OK. Kelsey, thanks so much for your time. I'm going to interrupt you for a moment.

We want to go straight to the campus now to get an update from officials there.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

CHIEF WENDELL FLINCHUM, VIRGINIA TECH CAMPUS POLICE: If the public does see anyone suspicious or have any concerns, they should call 911 immediately.

Yes?

QUESTION: Was it a man with a gun? You're saying a person with a gun. And what was he or she dressed in?

FLINCHUM: It was a white male. They were wearing a blue and white striped shirt -- the stripes were vertical -- gray shorts, brown sandals. And the subject was described as not having facial hair or glasses.

QUESTION: The campus is not on lockdown anymore?

FLINCHUM: The alert is still in effect.

QUESTION: When is that going to be lifted?

FLINCHUM: Until we determine that we should lift it. QUESTION: Chief, what should all the camps that are on campus, all of the people who are on campus today, what should folks do while this alert is in effect? I understand a lot of people have gone inside. What do you recommend in light of lots of unknowns here?

FLINCHUM: The alert that went out asked people to go inside, secure themselves until further notice. And that's what we're still asking people to do. Again, it's going to be their individual decisions, but you have the information that we have, and they need to make their own decisions.

QUESTION: The fact that students aren't here right now, a large number of students -- I don't want to say is it any easier, but the fact that you don't have 30,000 kids roaming campus, I mean, is this a little easier to get workers corralled in the building versus a bunch of students?

FLINCHUM: These are never easy. Certainly not having the number of people makes the number of people we have to look at easier for us. But it's similar no matter what.

QUESTION: Chief, is anyone in custody or being questioned, or any suspects? We understood that a couple of people were questioned on campus. Anything that you've been able to rule out at this point?

FLINCHUM: There have been people that were stopped and questioned, and they were ruled out. And again, we have not found the person matching the description that was given.

QUESTION: So, just to clarify, no one is in custody?

FLINCHUM: No one is in custody. That's correct.

QUESTION: How many people have been stopped?

FLINCHUM: I'm not sure how many people have been stopped.

QUESTION: We heard that they ran towards -- the report said they ran towards the volleyball courts. Which volleyball courts is that pertaining to? The one beside Lee Hall?

FLINCHUM: Actually, that report is partially incorrect. It was not that they ran, it's just that they were moving towards the volleyball courts.

QUESTION: They or he?

FLINCHUM: He. I'm sorry. Thank you, Larry.

He was leaving towards the volleyball courts, which would be behind Lee Hall.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

FLINCHUM: He was seen on the outside, correct.

QUESTION: He was seen on the outside of the dining hall?

FLINCHUM: Near the dining hall, yes. But he was outside the building, yes.

QUESTION: We've got a tip that the person was actually contained in Dietrick. Obviously, that is untrue?

FLINCHUM: That is not the information that we received.

QUESTION: How many people are on campus (INAUDIBLE)?

LARRY HINCKER, ASSIST. VP, UNIVERSITY RELATIONS: I really don't have an estimate. We'll have to get back. You know, that's going to vary literally from day to day. Campus enrollment, obviously, will not vary from day to day, but that would be on the order of just a few thousands students.

QUESTION: A few thousand?

HINCKER: A few thousand. A few thousand.

QUESTION: And what about the -- how many camps do you guys have going on right now? And what was the camp that these kids are involved with?

HINCKER: We have got the name of the camp. It's called Higher Leadership.

FLINCHUM: Higher Achievement.

HINCKER: Higher Achievement. The name of the camp is Higher Achievement. We're trying to get some more information on that.

QUESTION: And the name of that camp, or the camp that those students (INAUDIBLE).

HINCKER: That was the name of the camp those students are in. It's called Higher Achievement.

QUESTION: Are there a bunch of camps on campus?

HINCKER: Throughout the summer and throughout the week. I mean, the camps will come and go. Sometimes they'll be here for several days, and sometimes they'll just be here for a day or two. So it really is going to vary quite a bit.

QUESTION: So, Larry, the alert is in effect until further notice?

HINCKER: The alert is in effect until further notice. We're asking people to stay indoors until they hear from us again.

As you might have seen, we issued a subsequent alert which basically was just to let people know we have more information. We have directed people to go to our Web site. We've also sent blast e- mails. But the alert remains in effect, and we're asking people to stay indoors.

QUESTION: And police are being vigilant on campus --

WHITFIELD: All right. The campus of Virginia Tech remains on lockdown as a result of some kids attending camp there say they saw a man who may have been carrying a gun walking near one of the campus buildings. And so, a lockdown remains in effect.

You just heard it from one of the officials there. They're asking all of the students, anyone on campus, to simply stay indoors until further notice.

They continue to send out e-mails and texts in which to tell people on campus to stay put until they locate someone. They have stopped a number of people, but they say none of them fit the description, so thus far, they have not come into contact with this person of interest.

We'll have more continuing coverage on this right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A campus lockdown. An alert remains on the campus of Virginia Tech. This, after a number of campus campers said they saw a man that they describe as a white male, six feet tall, wearing a striped shirt and gray shorts and brown sandals. There's the description right there, carrying a gun, what they thought was a gun, covered in some sort of cloth.

But right now officials are saying they have come across no such description of anyone. They have stopped people, but none of them fit this description.

They continue to ask everyone on campus to simply stay where they are. There are about 1,000 or so students that may be on campus, some who are college age, attending student summer sessions on Virginia Tech campus, and others who are smaller kids who are attending a high achievement kind of camp there. They are continuing to inform people on campus via text and e-mail to stay exactly where they are until they lift that lockdown and alert.

The other big story we continue to watch, we're watching the fall of the U.S. markets. This, as fears of a global economic slowdown continue.

Our Alison Kosik -- you can see right there, 258 points down at the Dow. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with a better look at the numbers and what this all means -- Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

Yes, the selling has definitely picked up steam in the past half hour. The Dow, now down 259 points. And if you look at the past two weeks, the Dow has lost 1,000 points. Poof, gone. As we watch the Dow drop, we're watching the VIX. That is sort of the fear index. It measures the fear in the marketplace. That is spiking 12.5 percent right now, and we're getting very close to an actual market correction. You know, if we see yet another one percent drop, we could be in that correction territory -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And how would that determination be made?

KOSIK: We have to hit a certain level on the Dow, 12,500 and some odd points, but that's how you would decide. It's a natural 10 percent drop. We're getting very close to that. We're more than eight percent down -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK.

Any better explanation as to why the big drop again today? I realize there are kind of global fears. It's not just the United States, but it is globally a number of countries that are not doing so well right now.

Is anyone kind of pontificating a little further on this?

KOSIK: Exactly. Yes. I mean, it's really a combination of a bunch of things, including concerns about the possibility that the European debt crisis could get worse and spread here to the U.S., to bank and businesses here at home.

There's also the reality of what's going on here in the U.S. We got sort of another slap in the face about how weak our job market is. We got this so-so reading on jobless claims. They hardly budged last week.

It's just once again another reminder that the job market really isn't cutting it. But overall, you're just seeing this general malaise. Investors just are just not happy with the direction the economy is going in -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Here in the U.S., more jobless numbers expected out tomorrow, and expectations are very low on that.

Alison Kosik, thanks so much. We'll check back with you.

Meantime, we're also keeping a close watch on the weather. It is hurricane season, still, a reminder. And Tropical Storm Emily could unleash another disaster on Haiti.

We'll check in with Rob Marciano for the latest on the storm's track.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. Meantime, Congress goes on paid vacation, leaving thousands of FAA workers without their paychecks. We'll talk live with one of those workers about his frustration and his financial struggles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A campus lockdown and alert remains in effect at Virginia Tech. This, after some student campers on campus said they saw a man walking on campus near one of the buildings there, near a volleyball area, carry a gun on campus, even though they say it was also covered, the gun that he may have been holding.

And so, immediately, a campus alert went out, text messages went out, e-mails went out. And now a lockdown is in effect. About a thousand, perhaps even more, students on campus attending summer school, and also younger kids, academic camp on campus there, all of them have been asked to stay where they are as the lockdown remains in effect.

We'll continue to keep you posted on that as we get more developments.

Meantime, another story we're following. Furloughed FAA workers caught in the middle of a partisan political fight vent their frustration at Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL BOLEN, FURLOUGHED FAA EMPLOYEE: I'm incredibly disappointed that they would think that this is appropriate, that they can go on vacation for four weeks and have a great time, while being paid, and I'm sitting here wondering if I'm ever going to get paid by them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Four thousand workers are off the job. Another 40 are working without pay.

Members of Congress left on summer recess without resolving their feud that delayed a funding extension for the FAA. The FAA funding fight isn't just affecting employees of the agency. More than 200 airport projects are on hold, leaving tens of thousands of construction workers off the job. And the government is losing about $30 million a day in federal taxes on airline tickets that are not being collected.

CNN's Athena Jones join us now from Capitol Hill with more on this dispute.

So, Athena, what is this fight about and what are the options now that lawmakers have left town?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, this is usually a pretty routine extension. They have done this 20 times since 2007. They have temporarily extended funding for the FAA. This time around though they're running into problems.

The House passed a bill extending funding, but a Republican congressman from Florida attached a provision to it that would eliminate some funding for some rural airports. That's subsidizing commercial airport service to these rural airports. We're talking about airports in small towns in places like Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, airports that may serve only 500 passengers a year.

And so you have the government spending millions to help subsidize these tickets to a tune of $3,700 in one example. And so Republicans don't want to see -- they say that's a waste of money.

Democrats believe that Republicans are just using that issue to force their hand on a larger issue, which is the issue of unionization when it comes to the longer term funding of the FAA. Democrats want airline workers to be able to unionize more easily. Republicans are against that. And so they're fighting over a number of issues here, they're all kind of wrapped up together, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. And we also heard Ray LaHood, who's Transportation Secretary who was once a Congressman himself saying Congress, come on back and get this business done.

How likely is it to happen that there will be some kind of congressional action?

JONES: Well, there could be congressional action. I spoke with a Democratic Senate aide this morning and they were optimistic that -- they say conversations are still going on. They're optimistic they can get something done in the next couple of days. This is what the president has called for and what Transportation Secretary LaHood is calling for.

They have a few options. They could have the Senate pass the House bill, which is what Democrats are opposed to right now. They could have the Senate and the House agree to some sort of change to that bill but they'd have to do it by unanimous consent. That wouldn't require everyone to come in, it would require agreements on the part of the leaders, people would have to come in and be on the floor to object. And so that's one option. I'm told it's very, very rare in the House that this happens.

And now, of course, they could wait until this whole recess is over and everyone's back in session. But, of course, if they do that, they're losing more than $1 billion in tax revenues and you've got all these people who aren't collecting paychecks and aren't spending money in this consumer economy.

And so it's hard to know what's going to happen, but we can tell you that people want this resolved here on the Hill soon -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Athena Jones, thanks so much on Capitol Hill. Appreciate that.

So caught in the middle of this congressional standoff are thousands of FAA workers, as Athena was saying, going without their paychecks.

Michael Weatherby is one of those furloughed employees. He joins us via Skype from Atlantic City, New Jersey. So how much notice did you get that this was going to happen?

MICHAEL WEATHERBY, FURLOUGHED FAA WORKER: Thank you for having me. I received approximately a 24-hour notice that this was going to happen, that it possibly could happen.

WHITFIELD: Certainly not enough time to kind of put a plan in place so that you, your wife and your kids would be able to plan.

WEATHERBY: Absolutely not. To tell you the truth, nobody really thought it would happen. We thought calmer heads would prevail in this matter.

WHITFIELD: And how are you managing?

WEATHERBY: It's very tough. Financially, it's putting a burden on my savings. It's hard for my family. I'm going through my savings rather quickly. We've been told to go on unemployment, but that takes weeks to actually get going. It's tough.

WHITFIELD: So you've learned that you're eligible to collect unemployment because you have been furloughed, but, of course, like you said, that could take weeks. It could take an awful lot of time for it to be processed.

WEATHERBY: Absolutely. But what really matters here, though, even with the economics involved is the important work that myself and my colleagues do at the William J. Hughes Technical Center. This is the test bed for the whole FAA and we work on the next gen projects there which is going to make our skies safer than they are today, more efficient and keep our air space the greatest air space in the world. If we're furloughed, we can't be there at work.

WHITFIELD: So not only is the work not getting done, you're not able to get things done at home. Are you able to anticipate that you would be paid retroactively if Congress sends up, getting things going sooner rather than later.

Will you be able to, I guess, manage until that time?

WEATHERBY: It's a struggle. I would really hate to have to make the decision whether or not I can continue going on where I'd have to find other employment. It's taken me 15 years of my career to get to where I am today.

WHITFIELD: All right. Michael Weatherby, thanks so much. We wish you all the best, all the luck.

WEATHERBY: Thank you very much for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, what's the secret to a long life? We asked this woman who is 104 and she's still going strong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No running, no working out at the gym? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Put simply. So what keeps Dorrie Aber-Noyek going all of these years? We spent some time with this active centenarian.

And President Barack Obama is celebrating a milestone of his own today. He is now 50-years-old. Yesterday he got a birthday serenade from Jennifer Hudson in his hometown of Chicago.

(SINGING)

All right. The president attending a Democratic fundraiser that doubled as his birthday bash. The first family will throw a private party in the White House Rose Garden.

So here's a question for you. What other celebrities or celebrity turns 50 this year? Is it George Clooney, Meg Ryan, Eddie Murphy? The answer in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. So before the break I asked you, of these three here, which one turns 50 this year? The answer, all three actually. George Clooney turned 50 in May; Meg Ryan will be 50 in November; and Eddie Murphy just turned 50 in April. Happy Birthday.

So if you think exercise and eating your veggies will lead to a long life, well, you might be right. But a new study says that living to 100 and beyond is really just in your genes.

Senior CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen caught up with a woman who at 104 is still going strong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Guess how old this woman is? Eighty? Ninety? A hundred? Nope, think higher. Dorrie Aber-Noyek is turning 104 today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations I hope I make to it 104.

COHEN: Dorrie is what scientists call a super-ager.

And she has all her marbles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would love to have a little of your strength.

COHEN: She lives on her own independently in Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dorrie has to go to work.

COHEN: And once a week, she even delivers mail at Memorial Regional Hospital.

DORRIE ABER-NOYEK, CENTENARIAN4: I'll slow down if you want me to.

COHEN (on camera): You're all over the place. You're walking here, you're walking there.

ABER-NOYEK: Yes.

COHEN: Where do you get the energy at 104?

ABER-NOYEK: I don't know. I often wonder. I feel good.

COHEN (voice-over): At 104 most people are, well, dead. So what's kept Dorrie not just alive, but alive and thriving? It hasn't been exercise.

(on camera): No running, no working at the gym?

ABER-NOYEK: No. No.

COHEN (voice-over): It hasn't been diet.

ABER-NOYEK: Every day I cook. Every single day.

COHEN: A new study reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society says that what keeps super-ages like Dorrie alive so long, seems to be their genes. The study looked at nearly 500 people ages 95 and 112 and found their lifestyles were really no different than anybody else's. Similar diets, similar exercise patterns, they were just as likely to be overweight and to drink alcohol.

All that makes sense to Dorrie. Her mother lived to be 99, her daughter is 76, but looks way younger.

(on camera): You've got some pretty good genes.

ABER-NOYEK: I have some very good genes. Yes.

COHEN (voice-over): A genetic blessing that may be the most important secret to an exceptionally long life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many more, Dorrie. Many, many, many more.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. So what does a woman who has lived through two world wars and two husbands think the secret to a good life is? Well, I'm going to be asking her.

Dorrie Aber-Noyek will join me live from Miami, and then our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen will tell you what you can do to live a long life even if longevity doesn't run in your genes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, imagine this, our next guest was born in 1907. And at 104 years old, Dorrie Aber-Noyek has seen two world wars come and go. She is still volunteering at a hospital in Hollywood, Florida, delivering mail and brightening up everyone's day. What's her secret to living such a long life? Well, let's find out and ask her directly. She's joining us right now from Miami.

Ms. Aber-Noyek , good to see you. So what is the secret to why you have lived so long and you're so vibrant?

DORRIE ABER-NOYEK, CENTENARIAN: Please repeat?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your secret?

ABER-NOYEK: Well, I really don't have any special secret. This is just as a surprise to me as to anybody else.

I eat normally. I used to exercise by walking all my life. And lots of walking, I don't drive. I don't have a car and I haven't had a car during my early days, but since my marriage, my husband had a car and drove me everywhere. And otherwise, I had to walk.

But my mother has very good gene ing s and I think I inherited them.

WHITFIELD: So it sounds like in addition to good genes, a lot of that physical activity and staying active has been key.

You have seen and witnessed so much history over your lifetime, being born in Liverpool, England. Is there a historical event or an occurrence in your lifetime that leaves the biggest impression on you?

Something that has made the largest impact on your life?

ABER-NOYEK: My history?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something that was important to you, one event.

ABER-NOYEK: Something important me in whole life, are you asking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ABER-NOYEK: Well, I can remember back to when my parents lived in Liverpool with me in the house. When the war broke out, the first world war broke out, and my father who was very patriotic volunteered when he had about -- I forget how many children, he had about four or five children already. He volunteered for the army, and he went away and my mother was left to bring us up. And she started a very small store and she made a living that way because the British soldiers pay was very, very small. No comparison with here.

And then I'm skipping to when the war was over and my father came home, that was a big event in my life. And the people in Liverpool were very excitable and they were very much against the Germans and they went around wherever they saw a name that sounded German, they would start breaking windows and smark everything up.

And they came to our door and my father got his big carving knife and came to the door and he really threatened them and this was after he had been in the army, been three years away, sent to India and fighting around that way, around the east. And they went -- that's a big historic event in my life.

WHITFIELD: That's incredible. Ms. Dorrie Aber-Noyek, you are a walking encyclopedia. What an incredible history you have lived and you have made as well. Happy birthday at 104 years old. And we appreciate you taking time out today because I understand that you should be on your mail route today and are a little disappointed about that. So thanks so much for your time, appreciate that and happy birthday.

OK, well, a lot of us have to live a very long life just like that, but to get to an age of 100 and then beyond, well, what does that mean? How do you have to live your life? We need to be following her footsteps of eating cookies every day I think. A new study find that centenarians can smoke, drink, avoid exercise, even be obese.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us.

Boy, she is in incredible shape.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: She is. She's in amazing shape. Like someone said to me, she has all her marbles and she really, clearly does.

And you're right, today is Thursday, it's her day to run around the hospital and I do mean she walks briskly. She asked the photograph if he could keep up with her. And she is disappointed she is not there delivering mail.

Now this study that says that centenarians eat just like the rest of us and exercise like the rest of us, it doesn't mean it's OK to be a couch potato. These folks lived a long life even with bad health habits because they have good genes. They have genes that give them good cholesterol. They have genes that protect them against heart disease. The rest of us don't.

If you don't have those genes, you do need to follow doctor's orders and eat healthfully and exercise. If you have those genes, yes, you can probably go to town, but most of us don't have those genes.

WHITFIELD: I love that she says, you know, I don't diet, I get a little exercise here and there like the mail round, et cetera, but I have a cookie every day. That's the take away from me.

COHEN: At least one. One or two. Yes, I liked that. WHITFIELD: She is doing a little bit of exercise in her centenarian years, that certainly has to add to her longevity. That has to make a difference.

COHEN: Right, it probably does make a difference. And another thing that makes a difference to me, here she is at 104 fully engaged in her community. I mean, the people at the hospital --

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COHEN: Oh, they love her. I mean, once a week she goes to the hospital where people give her hugs and kisses, where she does something important, she is delivering the mail, and that really has to keep you going on.

And then on other days, she does other things. I mean, she is involved in other groups and has lots of friends, she lives on her own. But she has lots of friends in her apartment building. Staying engaged like that is huge.

WHITFIELD: And her memory, we just saw that, her memory is just remarkable, detailed as if it were yesterday.

COHEN: And I want to tell you this, she just came back from Toronto. She flew from Florida to Toronto on her own, spent a month with her daughter, flew back to Toronto, arrived home in the evening and went to work the next day.

WHITFIELD: And she is independent.

COHEN: That's right.

WHITFIELD: I love her. All right, thank you so much for bringing her to us. We appreciate it.

COHEN: Dorrie is wonderful. She's just incredible.

WHITFIELD: Elizabeth Cohen, appreciate it.

COHEN: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: Well, you know it's pretty scorching out there. We are going to be talking a lot more extensively about the heat and what it's doing to your body, which means it is so hot you probably spend a lot of time trying to stay cool in your home. Well, we have some tips to lower the energy costs as well.

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WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

We continue to watch the fall of the U.S. stocks -- look right there -- over 300 points now the Dow has dipped today, perhaps in response to a global fears of an economic slowdown that spreads worldwide, as well as big fears about more U.S. jobs that seem to be lost. Our Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with more on this.

Alison, what more can you tell us about this incredible dip?

KOSIK: Yes, we are getting very close to correction territory. If you look at the level of the Dow now, it's at 11,559, when we get to 11,529 that's considered an actual market correction where the Dow would be down 10 percent.

If you look at even just over the time span, over the last two weeks the Dow has lost more than 1,000 points.

And as we watch the Dow drop, we're watching the VIX rise. The VIX is up over 22 percent. What the VIX does is it measures fear in the marketplace, and that is evident today. I mean, what you are seeing is investors just not happy about where the economy is going. It's showing weakness in almost every sector in manufacturing, in the service sector, in consumer spending, in housing.

And GDP on Friday really set things into motion when we saw how GDP was dialed back to 0.4 percent in the first quarter, and then was 1.3 percent in the second quarter, that shows the growth the economy is having, if at, all is really anemic, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Alison, thanks so much. We're going to check back with you momentarily with more on that as well.

Something else we continue to watch this hour. Another day of extreme heat, 100 degrees and higher across much of the south, and keeping cool means soaring energy costs.

Alison Kosik has tips to lower your electricity bill.

OK, you're back sooner than I thought. Yes, we're going to talk those tips now.

KOSIK: All right, here we go. So, yes, let's talk about a lighter topic for a moment.

You know, with places like Little Rock, Fredricka, Arkansas hitting 114 degrees yesterday, it's forecasted to be in the triple digits today, you know what? Staying cool is priority number one. The Department of Energy says heating and cooling costs account for 56 percent of energy used in a typical home, with Americans spending about $2,000 a household on energy every year.

And so the experts are saying time and time again, but you have to get a programmable thermostat. It can save you more than $100 a year, and can you check with your utility company if they offer free ones or have rebates when you buy one, which costs around $80 -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Alison, thank you so much, again. We are going to see you again, we're going to see a lot of you over the next few minutes, because that's the way it goes. Thank you so much, appreciate that.

OK, more of the day's top stories are coming up as well after this.

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