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A Tornado has Touched Down in Queens, New York; An MBA Program was Made to Help Pro Athletes Maximize Their Money; Mass Killings of Elephants in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Aired September 08, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: OK. All right, very good. Well, we got a hit and a miss.

Grae Drake. However, you is always a hit. Thank you so much.

Grae Drake, her movie grades are at rottentomaotoes.com. Just check them out right there.

All right, welcome back to the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

A tornado warning has been more cease on edge right now. This tornado, take a look, touched down just a short time ago, this is in Queens and a threat of more tornadoes is still out there until 10:00 p.m. this evening. A bad weather is forcing the U.S. open women's finals to be rescheduled until tomorrow.

Meteorologist Alexandra Steele is tracking this storm.

So, Alexandra, what more is in store for the New York area?

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, I was just seeing all these tweets going. And that's Queens, New York, the rock away from this slot in Queens. The people are saying in Queens, we have a tornado. You're looking at the funnel cloud there and the round around the base. So this, that is the debris field. And you know, in places around Queens like the breezy point yacht club, Cabana has blown over and also what we've seen industrial sized garbage cans.

So, what we are seeing, this is just one tornado funnel report. It's just not a confirmed tornado as of yet, but most like it is something will be. But, as we look towards now, that was morning at 11:00 a.m. There was a tornado warning there at the time. Here's what we've seen. These are all damage reports just from today.

What we are seeing is 60, 70 miles per hour miles an hour wind gusts, also hail. Again, that's tornado there. These are all damage of course, New York State, and Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, there's that tornado report in Queens. So that's a look at what we've seen.

But take a look at what we're going to see through the day. We've just begun with this. We've got this line moving through. Atmospherically, it is just duce. We have got this very strong cold front for this time of year pushing eastward into this warm humid atmosphere, a lost atmosphere if we can duce up as well. But this is just a one day affair. By tonight, it will be state of complete. Believe it or not, clear skies almost fall-leak conditions for this area tomorrow.

So these are tornado watch boxes meaning that we do have the atmosphere conducive for tornadoes to form which we have seen since 11:00 this morning. There's the line. Why don't I just take you a little radar tour?

Here's Albany to Kingston, New York. The New York State through way drive, but look what's heading your way. It is all pushing in from the west, driving on 88, really driving in this area. Connecticut has been under the gun. We had tornado warning earlier for Fairfield, Litchfield County, which is north, last portion of Connecticut, also new haven, county.

Farther west now. Scranton, Pennsylvania, tornado warning earlier for you heading toward bethel. That has expired though. But still, thunderstorm watches. We have thunderstorm warning. All the big cities, there's Washington. The worst is still to your west. Baltimore, the worst to you north and west, west minister, Anchors townhomes some strong storm blow through. So, all of this is moving east heading to all these big cities Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington. And the biggest threat with this, tornadoes are certainly possible, but the biggest threat, these very strong wind gusts and also some isolated hail damage. So, that's a threat. Severe for today into tonight, but then again it is done. And look at this, Boston from the steamy 80s and 90s to the 60s. By Monday and Tuesday, New York City, 80 degrees of same scenario, Fred, as we head towards the ends of the weekend heading to tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: So boy, it will feel good, but first you got get through today.

STEELE: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Alexandra.

All right, the presidential race, well, it is intensifying today with both President Obama and Mitt Romney going after voter there in battle ground states.

Romney spoke about an hour ago in Virginia Beach, Virginia. We have more on that in a moment. President Obama has two speeches of his own in Florida today, one this morning in St. Petersburg near Tamps and another actually coming up in the next hour in Kissimmee.

So first, let's go live to Jessica Yellin, who is following the president.

So Jessica, on the line with this, right now. Obama has a slight leaded in Florida right now. But certainly the White House not taking it for granted.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Oh, God, no. Fred, hi. He can't take this state for granted. The race is too tight here in the state of 29 electoral votes. It could be the decisive state for which man will win the White House.

Right you now, the president campaigning across i- 4 corridor, an actual highway. But it also described an area of the state that where most swing voters live. And in order to win the state, folks that are going to be cris-crossing this area trying to pick up as many the region's young voters and new Latino voters. And then, also a lot of folks who have seen foreclosures and seen the job hard times but did vote for the president last time around as he has to try win them back with this message that he can do more on the economy with another four years, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So Jessica, this is the first campaign stop since, you know, since the Democratic convention wrapped up Thursday night. So is there any way of gauging the kind of bump, you know, from the turnout that these events that maybe the president is able to joy?

YELLIN: You know, you can't extrapolate from the crowds here. Clearly, these people are his supporters largely. But I'll tell you that the crowd here is large. The crowd, earlier today and also yesterday waited several hours for him. And so here in the heat yesterday, I was in Iowa where they were getting rained on and waited for him for several hours. So at the very least we can say that folks are getting engaged now and it looks like we are in the home stretch and people are starting to pay attention to the campaign season. We are going to see of more of these big crowd side of that in the last few weeks, the next few weeks.

WHITFIELD: I see. OK. Thanks so much. President of course making more stops in Florida tomorrow.

Jessica Yellin, traveling with the president as he does so. Thanks so much, Jessica.

All right, as I mentioned, Mitt Romney is making his campaign stops in another battleground state, that of Virginia. He held a rally at the military aviation museum at Virginia Beach, just in the last hour. Romney took aim at the controversy over the reference to God in the Democrat's platform.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The pledge says under God. I will not take God out of the name of our platform. I will not take God off our coins and I will not take God out of my heart. We're a nation bestowed by God, one nation indivisible. I will not divide this nation. I will not apologize for Americans abroad and I will not apologize for Americans here at home with liberty and justice for all. With liberty, I will not forget that for us to have liberty here, for us to be able to protect yourself from the most evil around the world for us to share a liberty with our friends around the world, we must have a military second to none so strong, no one will ever think of testing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And you get up close and personal with a look at the two men vying for the hold on the country's future. Find out what Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are really like tomorrow night beginning at 8:00 Eastern time when profound Republican presidential nominee, "Romney Revealed, family, faith and the road to power" and as followed at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time by "Obama Revealed, the man, the president" right here on CNN.

All right, a shock discovery in France. Four people found murdered. The two young children survived. We'll take a closer look at that case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Checking our headlines beyond our borders now.

The 14-year-old girl accused of blasphemy in Pakistan is now out on $10,000 bail. Authorities charged the girl, seen here under a veil, after burnt pages containing verses from the Quran were allegedly found in her bag.

In Iraq, four rockets fired from Syria killed a 4-year-old girl. The weapons hit an area of that have a Syrian refugee center. About 4,000 people have crossed into Iraq from Syria where at least 148 people were reportedly killed today, victims of the Syrian civil war.

And in Afghanistan now, the Taliban say they're responsible for a suicide bombing that killed six civilians, including some children. The bombing was near the headquarters of the international security assistance force.

All right, now, this is a very bizarre murder mystery that has police from Paris to London trying to find the killer or killers and the motivation behind it all, a quadruple murder in the French Alps. It happened Wednesday and police say all the victims were shot to death, three, including a mother and father were found in a car, another victim who was a female cyclist was found dead in a parking lot and now police offer this latest detail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC MAILLAUD, FRENCH PROSECUTOR (through translator): the four deceased victims received two shots to the head. OK, I said yesterday a minimum of one bullet in the head. It's two for each deceased person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Jonathan Mann has been following the story.

So, this is very bizarre. We are talking about four people. Is there a relationship between the four killed and the place in which this happened?

JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They were mystified by this. You know, all of this would be some kind of weird movie except it's really too serious, it is too sad and it is incredibly creepy.

British and French authorities are still trying to figure out why they were where they were, what possible motive there might have been and of course who the killers are. Well today, they searched for evidence at the home of two of the victims, the husband and wife who were slain in that car. They are British citizens from (INAUDIBLE). This is small village in Surry County, just about 15 miles Emma southwest of London.

We spoke with an ITN reporter Emma Murphy. She is in France. She also had more details about the extra story on what happened and how they discovered the crime scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMA MURPHY, ITN REPORTER: When the attack took play place, a cyclist discovered the victims. He had seen paths on the way up the hill, find another cyclist and when he reached the top of the hill, he saw the cyclist who had passed him dead on the ground, the little girl staggering toward him and then the BMW car with engine still running and the three dead on the ground. He was massively shock by this and has been giving information to police as best as he can give on what he thought brave. And that also taking information, I mean, number of other people in the local village.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: But imagine someone is on a quiet road in the French Alps, out on a beautiful day cycling.

WHITFIELD: Looks like a park area.

MANN: Yes, completely remote. The nearest building is a 20 minute drive away. They are in the middle of nowhere. They get to the top of the hill and there's a dead cyclist who was living moments ago, three dead people and a car choose engine is still running and this little girl who had been beaten and shot herself staggering around. Can you imagine? That's what happened.

WHITFIELD: This is horrific. And so, now we're talking about - OK, so you've got the scope of this family, but apparently there were two children that investigators were prompted to look for even though they had only found the body of one missing?

MANN: This is - this is the saddest and frankly sickest element of it. They found the one girl who had been beaten and shot. So, they knew that they had one child. But they started asking around. They knew family was staying at the local campground. They asked at the campground. And the people said, of course, there were two children and they went two children.

Well, the original officers, who discovered the car when the cyclist notified them, were told don't touch the car. They didn't touch the car. There were three dead people inside. When they started looking for the second child, she was in the car, a four-year-old girl alive, hiding under the bodies of her dead relatives. That 4-year-old is being obviously treated and treated very, very carefully. The other girl who was beaten and shot is in a medically induced coma.

So here, we have this extraordinarily mystery in a remote part of the French Alps, two survivors, one seven, one four, and neither one of them has been able to offer the police any useful information apart from that youngster confirming that it is indeed her parents who are dead.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my God. A 4-years-old, at some point, that child will be able to articulate something about what was seen, what was witnessed. If it is difficult now, I mean, clearly shocked. But, they are counting on them, I'm sure.

MANN: She saw a multiple murder and then she hid. According to Emma Murphy, for eight hours under the bodies of her dead parents before she was finally approached by a female police officer who reached out her arms to the girl and the girl jumped into them and smiled.

WHITFIELD: What a story. This is incredible. What an investigation. Keep us posted on that because lots of unanswered questions.

MANN: Just tragedy.

WHITFIELD: Very horrible. Thanks, John.

All right, the about pictures are heartbreaking. Elephants brutally killed for their ivory tusks. But this isn't the work of your average poacher, if there is such a thing. It fits in to a much bigger scheme of organized crime.

And if you have to go out today, you can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone. You can also watch CNN live from your desktop, just go to CNN.com/TV.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're learning startling details about mass killings of elephants in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Conservation groups say poachers are wiping out tens of thousands of elephants a year and there are pictures to back that claim. But I must warn you, they are very disturbing to look at.

These photos were given to us by the founder of Save the Elephants. A Ugandan military group is among other groups that are accused of using Helicopters to kill elephants just like this. It's part of an ongoing scheme to collect millions of dollars in the form of ivory tusks from these elephants.

Doctor Douglas-Hamilton is joining me now. He is the founder and CEO of Save the Elephants and an expert on what's going on.

Doctor Douglas-Hamilton, thanks so much for joining us from Kenya.

In "New York Times" this week reveals the atrocities. Dozens of elephants being slaughtered for their tusks and as I mentioned, the use of Ugandan military chopper -- there has always been a fear that poachers were getting more inventive, changing their strategy. Is this what you thought it might be evolving in to, the use of military helicopters to kill the big game?

IAIN DOUGLAS-HAMILTON, FOUNDER, CEO, SAVE THE ELEPHANTS: Well, that's a helicopter scene next to the shore of elephants at about the same time and the whole thing will be tested very soon (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: OK, Doctor. Doctor Iain Douglas-Hamilton, we are going to try and establish a better connection because it is difficult to hear you. So we'll try to work a few things out in commercial break and we'll be right back with this very disturbing story and this new trend on how these majestic animals are being slaughtered in Africa right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we are going to try to resume our conversation about the devastating slaughter of African elephants, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo where eyewitness accounts and various imagery, has shown that poachers are using military helicopters and they are killing these elephants by the dozens at any one time, herds of elephants there in the Congo. And there may be or at least the pictures and some of the accusations are there may be a cooperative effort that may involve a number of African nations in the slaughter of these animals for their tusks.

We are going to try to resume our conversation with Doctor Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the founder of Save the Elephants is joining us on the phone now from Kenya. This is near and dear to quarter hear your heart. We talked about the images and how you were describing before the break that Ugandan helicopters were photographed near the carcasses of these animals.

But, are we able to put to and to, you know, together, I mean, add up the elements here that the Ugandan government in some way of complicit in the killing, the sanctioning of the killing of these animals in the Congo?

DOUGLAS-HAMILTON (via phone): Yes. They think that's proven yet. We're waiting for the DNA evidence to see. But this killing of elephants is going in all whole region of Africa. And it all comes down to the incredible rise in price that we've seen over the last three years and that seems to be driven by the prosperity of China, where people are unaware the effects on the buying on the elephants.

WHITFIELD: So, Doctor Douglas-Hamilton, you believe that people are unaware of what it takes or what is being done in order to get these tusks. These tusks are going for thousands of dollars for any one tusk. And it's your belief that those who are purchasing them, whether this China or India, that they have no idea the brutality that's involved in order to get those tusks?

DOUGLAS-HAMILTON: I'm not saying everybody, but literally huge numbers come back with the answer that the people buying the tusks drop out of the elephants every year like the (INAUDIBLE). And we really need to share our awareness with the Chinese people, with people on the Fareast to stop the kill and reduce the price and stop all the craving of ivory. WHITFIELD: So how do you do that? How do you, as a conservationist, as an environmentalist, how do, any NGOs successfully try to convey the message of what you're saying in order to get whether it's Uganda or whether it's Sudan or whether it is the, you know, Lord's resistant army who have also been accused of killing these animals. I mean, what's the leverage that anyone can have to try to get poachers from stopping this exercise?

DOUGLAS-HAMILTON: Yes, any leverage is dropping the price, that in some places, you can also get the people on your side like we have in Norman, Kenya where the poaching is less severe even though it is worth more than two years ago. So, we have to stop any consumer from paying such fantastic prices. It all trickles down to the poacher and they get about one-fifth of the price if you have in Beijing. And that is so much higher than any of it and the money that they can make.

WHITFIELD: So somehow you have to cut into the interests of ivory jewelry, ivory ash tray, ivory bed posts. You have to cut into that interest. At the same time, you also have to cut into the interest of poachers who are sometimes receives just a sack of salt, but that's valuable where they are, or sometimes they are getting $400 to kill an elephant or to hand over a tusk, which is a whole lot of money when some members of the military are just making $100 a month.

DOUGLAS-HAMILTON: Yes, they're making money, the poachers. And they're usually young men who are not very social, who rob their communities of their wildlife resource and they are taking it for themselves. We're trying all sorts of things. And even arrive resources and restriction can work in the field. We are using satellites to crack elephants, to crack some of the big tuskers in order to protect them. And we need to have that price down, that's the real thing, because on its own and the poaching won't work unless you lower the price, you lower the demand.

WHITFIELD: And you mentioned those satellite and those tracking devices to help protect the animals. But the, don't you also worry that poachers are getting sophisticated too, and they might be using those satellite tracking devices in order to find the elephants to kill?

DOUGLAS-HAMILTON: This is our software and we only give it out to people that we trust. You can see it on Google earth in near real time and it really helps in you manages. The poachers can't get it because they don't have the code word.

WHITFIELD: OK.

DOUGLAS-HAMILTON: We try all these high tech things, but ultimately it comes down to persuasion. And countries like United States and China, they have to take joint leadership and wake the world up with elephants (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: OK. Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder and CEO of Save the Elephants. Thanks so much for your time and I continue -- best wishes on this effort to try to save the African elephant. Thanks for joining us from Kenya.

DOUGLAS-HAMILTON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, one big concern happening right here in the U.S. in the northeast in particular, some trenchers weather already, at least tornado spotted in Queen breezy point. Our Susan Candiotti joins us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Tornado warnings have the northeast on edge. You're looking at a tornado that touched down in queens. And the threat of more tornadoes is still out there until 9:00, maybe even 10:00 p.m. tonight.

Susan Candiotti is getting a firsthand look there from Breezy Point, New York. So, what kind of damage and danger are you seeing there in the Horizon?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can see, it is bright and sunny now. But as I said breezy, we are on Breezy Point which is on a peninsula that faces the Atlantic Ocean in Queens, New York. Look at the damage over my shoulder from a possible tornado that touched down just before 11:00 this morning.

You see damage to this private beach club. These Cabanas. People do not live here. They come out here to spend the weekend, the day out of the beach. But the clean-up is well underway. Look at these guys. They are taking a brief break. But they are waiting for a pickup truck to come back so they can haul out some of this debris.

Couple of people that used the cabanas out here, and we are talking about minor damage, fortunately.

But Jim Brady, you are out here and in your cabana, which is one is that, just over your shoulder?

JIM BRADY, TORNADO WITNESS: We were in cabana there, the end cabana right up there. And luckily for me, I was inside the shower area just connecting some pipes. And I heard like a big wind and I heard a snapping of a utility pole and cracking electricity and then just a big wind tunnel noise. And I just hit the deck and I lay on the floor and I knew it was a tornado. So, we heard there were some warnings. And I just lay on the floor about 15, 20 seconds. And in 20 seconds, just silence. Then, I came out and I was-the debris filled in my cabana. And outside the cabana and then the roots that were torn off and everything I was just turn around, I was just lucky I was where I was and my family wasn't here. So --

CANDIOTTI: Exactly. And I know there are no injuries reported here which we are aware now.

Matt Kehoe, you were outside and you think you saw that on a cloud. Tell me about that. MATT KEHOE, TORNADO WITNESS: The raccoons, they got on time (INAUDIBLE), but they are very seldom touched. I'm glancing into the southwest and I see beyond that building over there, debris flipping up. Now, where it's going, we can't tell. But it came southwest into northeast. And it looked literally like the wizard of oz, not just swirling big thing like you see here on the ground, like 30, 40 feet in the air.

CANDIOTTI: But you are out of the way.

KEHOE: I was gratefully was out of the way in that desert. Next thing I did, naturally, was jump in my car. I drove up front thinking God forbid something got hurt. And found out the only guy who was hit, it was Brady. And I'm glad he didn't get hurt. So, nobody missing, nobody injured. Thank God.

CANDIOTTI: Exactly, fortunately. Well, even the police commissioner of New York City, Ray Kelly, was out here surveying the damage. They're saying indeed that it is minor, but tornado watches remain in effect for the New York metropolitan area until 9:00 tonight. Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Frightening moments there, but thankfully, as far as we know, you know, minor injuries.

All right, Susan Candiotti, appreciate that from Breezy Point, New York.

All right, the rumor is the new iphone 5 may be revealed next week. We will find out what we can expect from that new smart phone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The iphone 5 may finally be here. It's widely expected that the device will be unveiled at an Apple media event next Wednesday.

Our CNN Money reporter, Laurie Segall gives us a preview of that bog event.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: Hey, Fredricka.

Well, big Apple announcement coming up this week. We've all been waiting on it. Now, we got this invitation this week, you can see what is says. It says we're almost here, September 12th. But what we are really interested in is the shadow right here that has a five. So, got a lot of us speculating that maybe, we will finally get the iphone 5 or finally hear about it.

But what it is going to look like, what it is going to feel like, so many questions. So, let's go through some of those rumors.

Now, first of all, this is your traditional iphone you're looking at, lots of rumors about a bigger screen. The iphones has had a 3.5 inch screen since 2007. Now, there's speculation that screen make expand about four inches. So, this could be the first time we actually see a taller iphone since 2007. People also talking about the head phone jack. You take a look at this. Usually, at the top of your phone, now that could also move to the bottom of your phone.

And here's a rumor people are really talking about, a smaller dock connector. Now, do you see right here. It's how you plug in your phone. It could get smaller which might mean you might have to get a new plug for other devices. So the iphone 5 is also expected to support 4G and that means it will be faster than previous versions of the device.

Another thing, we're all waiting to hear about NFC capabilities. Lots of android devices have them already. It's a technology that essentially turns your smart phone into your wallet. But it is not all about the iphone. We're also hearing a lot of talk about an ipad mini.

Now, we've heard rumors apple will release a smaller version of its traditional ipad. Put it head to head with smaller tablet like kindle fire and Google nexus seven. Price speculation is between about $250, $300. But could it happen? You might have to wait a bit. I have a source who says expect a smaller ipad, but don't expect it next week. But you never know, Fredricka.

Also coming up the day before the announcement, facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is going to publicly speak for the first time since the company's rocky debut into the public market.

So, Fredricka, it definitely going to be a jam -packed week can be expected. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, Sounds pretty good. We all looking forward to it. Laurie Segall. For more hi-tech ideas and review, go to CNN.com/tech and look for the gaming and gadgets tab.

Every Saturday at this time, we try to bring you information on new technology and how it main it may be impacting your life.

All right, we have all had to cut back on our budgets. For some, it meant giving their pets. But one of our CNN heroes is trying to change that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The financial crisis means many pet lovers can't afford to care for their animals. This week's hero has helped hundreds of families keep their dog healthy and out of shelters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARLO MANNING, CNN HERO: Charlie means everything to us. He was diagnosed with cancer about two years ago. A couple days ago, he had another growth on his chest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Given the fact that he had an aggressive type of tumor, things like this should really come off.

MANNING: I recently got laid off and we were expecting our first baby. We were expecting with this huge vet bill and were at a loss.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we definitely will be able to help you out.

MANNING: I know how much you love your dog. With the economy being what it is, people are faced with the choice of having to give up their dogs because they can't afford them anymore. They're doing their best to get back on track. And then a crisis happens with their dogs. And it's just one more thing.

I'm Marlo Manning. And I lost a beloved puppy named lady bug. Now, I provide temporary aide to dog owners keeping dogs healthy, out of shelters and with loving families.

Dogs live in the moment. They bring you to their place of happiness no matter where they are in your life. If we can help with food, medical visits, or even surgery to keep the family together, they're able to take that burden away. We're going to put our maximum amount on Charlie which is $800.

It was such a blessing and we'll be forever grateful that Charlie gets the second chance.

What we do is to tribute to lady bug. If I had to get the grief to find its path, then, we were meant to lose her so that we could be inspired to help others.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And remember all of our heroes come from nominations. So if you have someone that you'd like to he will it el tell us about, go to CNNheros.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, you're about to meet a woman who fell from the sky.

Four years ago, Laura Sharpe's life changed in an instant after the helicopter she was in crashed. Now you Sharpe is helping others to heal through art.

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes her story in this week's human factor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOCTOR SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Memorial Day weekend, 2008, Laura Sharp and her stepdaughter are headed out of town on a 14 minute flight from Long Beach, California to Catalina Island.

LAURA SHARPE, HELICOPTER CRASH SURVIVOR: There were four of us traveling with two of the helicopter company staff and life changed. There was a mechanical failure. And we lost for power. GUPTA: Three of the six aboard died in the crash. Laura's stepdaughter badly injured herself saw her unconscious mother and dragged her from the wreckage by her hair.

Critical care specialist Dr. Feinberg assumed responsibility for Laura's treatment.

DOCTOR ANDREA FEINBERG, INTERNAL MEDICINE, PULMONARY AND CRITICAL CARE: She had literally fallen out of the sky and every part of her body was every fractured or suffering in some way. I just wasn't really sure how she would survive everything.

GUPTA: Laura suffered burns over nearly half her body, sustained major brain trauma, severe damage to her eyes and face. Dozens of fractures collapsed lungs. Not to mention severe psychological trauma.

SHARPE: I'm newly configured from head to toe. They did such a beautiful job putting me back together. I'm like humpty dumpty. It definitely took all the king's horses and all the king's men.

GUPTA: Today Laura is moving forward healing by expressing herself through art. Laura believes in art therapy so strongly that she founded artists for trauma. It's a nonprofit dedicated to helping other trauma survivors to heal.

Shelly Jones lost her ability to see following the stroke as a result of a bacterial infection in her heart. She's been paired with potter.

SHELLY JONES, PATIENT, ARTISTS FOR TRAUMA: It would be difficult for me to see exactly when I make a clay, but I can feel it.

GUPTA: And Laura feels she's found her life's purpose.

SHARPE: To bring joyous interaction to distract the survivor from their pain, bringing them the love.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: High end professional athletes that can rake in millions of dollars a year in salary and sponsorships. And now here's a new NBA program that helps teach them how to manage their wealth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's gotten to the point in Syria that when people look down they often see blood stains on the streets. And when they look up, they often face something even worse.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: Constant deadly shelling. Today alone opposition activists say 163 people were killed, many wounded, and when Syrians get hurt in the city of Aleppo, they go to a place that is under siege itself, the hospital.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh goes inside and tells the story of some of its youngest patients and a warning you what are about to see is very graphic and very disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This hospital is where many in Aleppo run when caught by the constant shelling even though the hospital and the area around it have also been fired upon.

Still this day we see many civilians flooding here for treatment, some of them very young. Doctors telling us that children's hospital has been closed by the government.

Some terrified, some starving. Muhammad, age 8, was hit by shrapnel fired from Syrian regime mortars. He is quiet, brave, but this hospital isn't equipped for the surgery he needs. His thigh bone is shattered.

So, the doctors have no choice but to exacerbate his ordeal and send him across the front lines to the government hospital, hoping perversely that those who hurt him can also heal him.

President Bashar Al Assad is history in the minds of locals but his regime still has the best hospitals where one doctor works during the day before sneaking here to help this rebel hospital in the evening. He tells me, wants to even his voice hid in the regime hospitals, 50 soldiers are brought in every day, that sometimes doctors mercy kill by injection those they can't treat effectively and if they found he was working in the rebel hospital they'd kill him.

Akmad's head has been hit by shrapnel from shelling his ear almost blown off. They struggle to clean the wound and to find enough anesthetic. At any point the power could cut. Still, the doctors carry on. It hurts he cries. He has yet to learn the worst about what the shelling did. He tells his father who is just outside the hospital.

The dead here so many the doctors must leave them on the street. His brother arrives. There is no room for privacy or dignity here. They remove the body before Akmad can learn what happened. The blood remains on the street unnoticed by some. The people of Aleppo looking to the skies checking what next may befall them.

Mick Paton Walsh, CNN, Aleppo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: As the civil war rages on CNN's Nick Paton Walsh gives you an inside look at the horrors of life inside Aleppo.

It's a CNN Special Report "crisis in Syria" tonight 7:30 eastern time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Most professional athletes know their careers won't last forever. In fact, the shelf life of an NFL player averages out to less than five years. Well, now there is a new MBA program specifically geared toward pro athletes to help them maximize their money now and later in life.

Carol Costello explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENDON AYANBADEJO, NFL PLAYER, GRADUATE STUDENT: I'm living my dream right now but when this one ends another one will have to take place.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brendon Ayanbadejo is a linebacker with the Baltimore ravens who has his eyes on his opponent on the field but he also has his sights set on life off it.

AYANBADEJO: I want to be the athletic director at UCLA, plus I want to be proficient businessman. I want to be hirable. I want to be somebody that has a resume, long resume of accomplishments.

COSTELLO: To make that happen, Ayanbadejo is going for Masters Degree in business administration. But what makes his MBA program unique is that nearly everyone in it a pro-athlete or former pro.

DOUG GUTHRIE, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: Our goal is to really help these individuals make the transition from a very specific occupation that has given them a lot of access and a lot of resources in their lives.

COSTELLO: This is George Washington University star executive MBA program, a customized program where celebrity students may pour eight hours in two week modules. It will take six modules over two years with plenty of homework and projects in between.

AYANBADEJO: We all have business and what we want to do and once our careers are over. And we need to learn fundamental ways how to grow those businesses and do them the right way.

There are still going to those trials and errors. But you are going to be a lot smarter, a lot more efficient and just go about it a better way.

COSTELLO: Spouses are also encouraged to apply. Kimberly Starks attends with her husband former NFL player, Dwayne Stark.

KIMBERLY STARK, GRADUATE STUDENT: There is a lot of class time and in addition to the class time, there is assignment. You know, you think like, you come in. You sit down. You listen to couple of lectures and it's over. That's not quite the case. There are lots of papers you are going to do. There are homework, assignments, labs, exams and it is a high pay.

COSTELLO: A modular curriculum to an MBA isn't new but tailoring it to students worth tens of millions of dollars is a new approach. The strategy is to help them hang on to their money and build upon it so it benefits not only them but everyone.

GUTHRIE: We want them to be able to channel those resources into becoming great business leaders in society.

COSTELLO: Ayanbadejo says it's simple. If you want it bad enough, go get it.

AYANBADEJO: Time waits for nobody. I got to get it done now. And you know, there is a dream after football and that dream isn't going to wait for anybody. Whoever seizes it is going to get it. So, now is the time.

COSTELLO: Carol Costello, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)