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Would-Be Suicide Bomber Speaks Out; Battle for Aleppo; Human Trafficking in the Spotlight; Student Loans Getting Steeper
Aired September 29, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN ANCHOR: You are you in THE CNN NEWSROOM. Great to see you. I'm Susan Hendricks, in for Don Lemon today.
I want to get you up to speed on the day's headlines now.
The Pope's former butler went on trial today in a Vatican City courtroom that is off limits to tourists. He is accused of stealing secret papers from Pope Benedict XVI, and leaking them to an Italian journalist. The court denied a motion to strike some of the evidence, including a gold nugget found in his apartment. The butler faces a sentence of up to eight years if convicted.
Winds ripping through the Japanese island of Okinawa. This is all from type Jelawat. Winds near the center of the storm are just over 100 miles an hour, same as a category 3 hurricane. At least 50 people suffered injuries while more than 270,000 homes have no power. The storm is expected to weaken as it moves north in colder waters.
Yes, it is over. The labor battle between the NFL and its referees officially over. The refs union formally ratified a new contract today.
Earlier this week, the union and the league agreed to the deal in time for the regular refs to return for Thursday night's game. Critics said the performance of the replacement refs was hurting the integrity of the game. I know a lot of people happy that they're back.
You know, General Motors is recalling more than 40,000 cars. It is concerned about a fuel pump module that could crack and cause a fire. The recall affects the 2007 and 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G5, also the 2007 Chevrolet Equinox, Pontiac Torrent, and Saturn Ion, as well. G.M. will replace the fuel part for free.
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REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Thank you so much for coming out, everybody.
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HENDRICKS: To the presidential race where Republican Paul Ryan is campaigning in New Hampshire and Ohio today.
Also, Vice President Joe Biden, he wrapped up a two-day swing in Florida, including a stop in Ft. Myers. President Obama and Mitt Romney had no public events today. They're prepping for Wednesday's debate.
But we have learned that Senator John Kerry is going to play the role of Mitt Romney in the president's practice sessions. Ohio Senator Rob Portman is portraying the president in Mitt Romney's debate preps, as well.
Meanwhile, President Obama and Mitt Romney will go face to face Wednesday night in the first of three presidential debates. You can watch it live right here on CNN, 7:00 Eastern. And also CNN.com. Don't miss that.
We could all agree having children changes your life forever. As parents, we want what is best for our kids. We want to make sure our children are safe and happy.
You would think that would be the case for every parent. Not so. Take a look at this man.
This father was willing to strap on a vest filled with explosives and kill as many people as possible, including himself. This father wanted to desert his son, let him grow up without a dad. And get this -- this father says it is perfectly OK if his 4-year-old son becomes a suicide bomber, too.
CNN's Anna Coren got this stunning exclusive interview with the father whose choices are so difficult to understand.
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ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind these high walls of Polacharki Prison among the 7,000 inmates, are several men who say they're hell-bent on being terrorists.
We've come here to meet a confessed would-be suicide bomber, one of hundreds now locked up behind bars.
Twenty-five-year-old Ruhullah believes he was carrying out God's will when he and his friends planned an attack on American soldiers in Nangarhar Province. He says he agreed to wear a suicide vest and kill as many foreigners as possible.
"It's a special feeling that comes to you when you are ready for a suicide attack," he tells me. "No one can stop you. No one could stop me."
That is, except the law when police arrested him five months ago in Jalalabad during the planning of the attack. He's now awaiting trial.
Proudly a member of the Taliban, Ruhullah says no one encouraged him to do this.
"Look at our situation. The foreigners kill our people. They insult our religion, burning the holy Koran and making cartoons of our Prophet Mohammed. If we don't defend Islam, then we are not Muslims." Suicide bombings and other attacks are now daily occurrences in the war in Afghanistan. And the methods of the insurgents are constantly changing, according to the prison boss, General Khan Mohammad Khan.
"The enemies don't use their old tactics. Now they use women, sometimes children and teenagers. They even get dressed up in military uniforms. They don't fight face to face. They're cowards."
(on camera): Well, the Taliban denies recruiting children as suicide bombers. The facts tell a very different story. Authorities say just a few days ago, a 10 year old orphan boy managed to escape from insurgents who were going to make him wear a suicide vest so he could blow himself up in front of coalition troops.
(voice-over): Ruhullah has a 4-year-old son who he says he loves and misses very much. When I ask him how he'd feel if his child was used as a suicide bomber, he tells me, "If he wants to be a suicide bomber when he gets older, well then no one can stop him. If he follows Islam and does it for Islam, then that's a good thing."
At times he speaks with hatred in his eyes. And then there are moments when he smiles, explaining this is all a test from God.
"Our real life starts after doomsday, so this is not our real life. This world is a paradise for pagans and a hell for Muslims. We just need to be patient."
The Afghan intelligence service and armed forces say they have foiled dozens of attacks in recent months. And while that's an encouraging sign, Ruhullah says there are thousands of others just like him ready to put on a suicide vest and die for their country and their religion.
Anna Coren, CNN, Kabul.
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HENDRICKS: Our thanks for Anna Coren for that report.
You know, the Syrian opposition says at least 94 people have been killed today in the fighting across the country. And rebels in Aleppo say they are engaged in the battle for the country's largest city.
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HENDRICKS: This video here is said to be from that city. CNN, though, cannot confirm its authenticity at this time. No one disputes that the fighting there has been some of the fiercest of the war.
Mohammed Jamjoom looks at the latest casualty, the ancient market.
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MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rebels battled forces in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Saturday, in what the opposition is describing as a decisive battle to push out President Bashar al Assad's forces and gain control once and for all. The seesaw fight for Aleppo which is effectively at a stalemate has been ongoing since July. And the number of casualties there has been steadily increasing. Opposition activists say that in the past few days, Aleppo has experienced its heaviest fighting yet.
Syrian Arab news agency reported that Syrian forces have killed and wounded armed terrorists at several sites in Aleppo on Saturday, including part of the city's medieval souk, that's a historic marketplace there.
Meanwhile, amateur video posted on line purported to show a fire spreading through that souk. It's still unclear how the fire began and how much of the market was burning. But several activists say that it was fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels that sparked the blaze. The souks of Aleppo are a labyrinth of narrow and covered alleyways where everything from food to clothing to souvenirs are sold. It was once a major tourist attraction, and just one of the reasons why the heart of Syria's commercial and cultural capital is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN, Beirut.
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HENDRICKS: In Pennsylvania, 16 teenage girls are in jail today, charged as adults for a vicious beating involved a woman in their neighborhood. What is worse? This video -- take a look here.
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HENDRICKS: It is tough to watch. This is outside of Philadelphia. Police say the woman being beaten here is mentally disabled and say the girls told them they attacked her, quote, "just for fun." They posted this video on Facebook. That is how police found out about it.
Here's one of the girls' mothers commenting.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never talked to my child since she went to school yesterday. I said, y'all can't talk to her again.
REPORTER: What about your other daughter?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know the story. I haven't talked to her since yesterday. Can you move back?
REPORTER: She apparently was the instigator if you look at the video.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't seen the video, and I haven't talked to my child. I'm sorry for the things that happened. But I have nothing else to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Well, the girls are charged with first-degree assault, aggravated assault. They are locked up this weekend on $50,000 bail.
Yes, they went digging for Jimmy Hoffa again. But one of the original investigators, he has something to say about the searching.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bunch of crapola. It doesn't mean anything. It never will and it's going to be solved.
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HENDRICKS: You heard him right. Is he right? The latest on this most recent investigation, next.
And child sex trafficking, those three words are disturbing enough -- even more disturbing, how web sites make ordering a girl for sex as simple as ordering a pizza. The report is next.
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HENDRICKS: Welcome back. It is the search that never ends, the legend that never dies. Once and for all, what happened to Jimmy Hoffa?
Investigators hoping to answer that, dug up a driveway beneath a shed near Detroit yesterday not expecting much, and got what they expected.
CNN's Susan Candiotti is there.
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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's yet another chapter in one of America's longest running mysteries. What happened to the remains of Jimmy Hoffa?
Here in Roseville, Michigan, police took an hour to carefully remove soil samples from beneath a shed and a driveway at a house where back in 1975, a tipster now says that he thinks that he saw what could have been a body buried inside that shed in the ground.
So police took soil samples. They dug about six feet under to remove them, and those soil samples will now be analyzed.
Now, the FBI is pretty skeptical about this information. And so, frankly, is the police chief here. But he says, hey, we have to check this out.
CHIEF JAMES BERLIN, ROSEVILLE, MICHIGAN POLICE DEPT.: I don't think it's Mr. Hoffa. It would be great if it was, because I want to bring closure to his family and the hundreds of thousands of Teamsters that idolize this man. Just for southeastern Michigan, this is kind of like an open wound that just keeps -- won't go away.
TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: There's been a lot of earth moved looking for the remains of Jimmy Hoffa. All negative so far. CANDIOTTI: Two samples were removed from the ground. And police say they looked murky because of all the groundwater. But those samples are now going to a lab at Michigan State University. And they expect to know some time Monday whether there are human remains buried beneath the driveway. If there are, then there will be a larger excavation.
Of course, they've had tips before that have not panned out. Now the question is: will police crack the case, or will it remain an unsolved mystery?
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Roseville, Michigan.
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HENDRICKS: Susan, thank you.
And we talked with a retired FBI agent a while ago who says Hoffa's body will never be found. He guarantees it. Why? Because he says there is no body. You will hear him explain that in a minute.
But, first, the fascination with Jimmy Hoffa. He's been missing nearly 40 years, and still every time a tipster claims to know his whereabouts, you pay attention, don't you? We all do. Here now is Carol Costello.
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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jimmy Hoffa, the mafia-backed union guy, remained unbowed despite the efforts of then Attorney General Robert Kennedy.
"Hoffa" the movie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Justice Department has plenty on you, Mr. Hoffa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't impress me. I don't need $300 million and my brother elected president will whoop your (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
COSTELLO: But in 1975, Hoffa disappeared and an American anti-hero was born. Many believed the mafia killed Hoffa and buried his body under the former Giants' stadium until they eventually dug it up and built a new stadium. No body, no Hoffa.
In 2004, authorities removed floorboards from a Detroit home to look for traces of Hoffa's blood. No go.
In 2006, the FBI raised a Michigan horse barn. No Hoffa.
DEMONSTRATORS: Kill the bill! Kill the bill!
Hoffa's son, James, is now President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, without connections to organized crime. Still, he can't escape his father's notoriety. Last year, he urged fellow union members to defeat Tea Party candidates. But it was the way he said it that caused a firestorm.
JAMES HOFFA, TEAMSTER PRESIDENT: And you know what? Everybody here has got to vote. If we go back and we keep the eye on the prize, let's take these son of a bitches out and get America back to America where we belong.
COSTELLO: Hoffa refused to apologize and his union is equally tough when it comes to the latest clue in Jimmy Hoffa's death. Quote: "The Hoffa family does not respond every time a tip is received by authorities. They will have no comment until there is a reason to comment."
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HENDRICKS: Now remember I told you that some FBI agents are convinced Jimmy Hoffa's body will never ever be found. They are convinced he is dead and his body was disposed of thoroughly.
Earlier today right here on CNN, we talked with an FBI agent who worked for years on the Jimmy Hoffa case. Fredricka Whitfield asked him if all the digging and searching was a big waste of time and money.
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JOHN ANTHONY, RETIRED FBI AGENT: Well, I think it is. I mean, the FBI has spent a lot of time. The last entry into the area was a tip on the farm up in Milford that was owned by a former organized crime Teamster official. And that turned up nothing.
This has cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars. It led to where I always thought it would lead, that is nowhere.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Do you feel like police jurisdictions will always be on a wild goose chase, if you call it that, because it is -- it is a legendary, you know, kind of urban myth. It's the mystery that continues to fascinate so many.
ANTHONY: You're correct. It is a mystery. It continues to fascinate a lot of people. And we'll go on and on.
But, you know, right away as soon as this happened, the thing that struck me was the tipster refused to take a polygraph examination. You know, right away that's got to tell you something. And the timeline was not correct either.
But law enforcement, local law enforcement could do what they wanted to do and drilled a hole. They came up empty. And as my grandson had told me many times when confronted with similar situations, it's a bunch of crapola. It doesn't mean anything. It never will. And it's never going to be solved.
We know what happened. We know who was involved. And, unfortunately, the people that were involved, they could be prosecuted, are down to only two or three individuals. WHITFIELD: So, what point will jurisdictions just simply say, case closed? We're never going to really be able to, you know, tie this up, conclude it succinctly, but we realize it's just a mystery that will forever go down in infamy as just that, a mystery?
ANTHONY: Well, the investigation itself as to who, what, where, when, and why is well-known and has been well-known to the FBI and law enforcement for a long period of time. The mystery surrounds the body itself. Where is the body? And it's our opinion, the FBI and based on their investigation, that the body was disposed of, you know, bottle of acid: chopped up in a crematorium, wherever, so that could it never, never be found. And that's what we believe happened.
And all these tips from now on ad infinitum are going to lead nowhere.
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HENDRICKS: Well, we shall see. On Monday, we'll find out. That is when Michigan police say they will tell us what if anything turns up in the soil samples that they dug up.
Well, 10 miles of the busiest highway in America is shut down, if you can imagine. You're looking at part of the reason why right here. And this is real life. So, the locals have given it a Hollywood-style name. A live report just ahead.
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HENDRICKS: In Los Angeles, the opening scenes of "Carmageddon 2" appear to be free of traffic jams. As you may have heard, 10 miles of one of the busiest freeways in America are closed in Los Angeles. A repeat of what happened last year.
Kyung Lah joins us now from the 405.
Kyung, tell us why they're doing this, about the big demolition.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The reason why they're doing it is because they're trying to widen the 405, adding a carpool lane. When all this construction is done, Susan, there's going to be 73 miles of carpool lane from Orange County all the way through Los Angeles. And it's going to be the longest in the world.
But the demolition that we've been watching all day, it's actually this bridge over my shoulder. This is the Mulholland Bridge. And that entire middle section that you're looking at -- well, just a couple of hours ago, that wasn't there.
Let's look at what we were watching throughout the day. Giant sections of the northern part of this bridge were coming down because they need to move the pillars further out so that the 405 can be widened for that carpool lane. So as you watch this concrete fall, the reason why they can't have traffic on the 405 is because clearly, it's not going to be safe to drive around that. And there's no other options. So what "Carmageddon" is, and it's a catch phrase for this, it's shutting down a vital, vital thoroughfare. As you come back live and look at the freeway, this is really simply stunning. Just looking at a major freeway like this, if you've been to Los Angeles, you know how vital this freeway is, to have no vehicles on it.
So "Carmageddon" is a concern that with this major artery closed in Los Angeles, there is a massive traffic spillover on to the other freeways.
But, Susan, happy to tell you that so far we are hearing that there hasn't been any major traffic incidents, any major traffic backups. There are certainly -- appears to be a few more cars on the road than the first time around, because people may have their guard down a little bit. But we aren't seeing the massive gridlock that is feared.
HENDRICKS: Which is such a good thing because I've been in it on the 405. And that's what they're trying to get rid of. Kyung Lah, thank you.
You know, girls as young as 14 kidnapped, raped, and forced into prostitution. Their pimps posting graphic ads on line.
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DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Make me beg. Smack me. Spit on me. Degrade me. Choke me. OK --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If that's online, that's a mistake.
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HENDRICKS: All new tonight, you don't want to miss this. Deb Feyerick continues her investigation into the rise and sex trafficking. And confronts the Web site that prosecutors say is making this all happen.
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HENDRICKS: Tricked into sex, forced into sex slavery. We're talking about American girls as young as 14 years old. They are part of the chilling rise in sex trafficking, young girls beaten and forced into the sex trade, trapped.
All new tonight, CNN's Deb Feyerick continues our investigation of sex trafficking and the Web site that prosecutors say is making this all possible.
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FEYERICK (voice-over): Sex trafficking is happening to American kids in cities and suburbs crass the country. Teens are more emotionally vulnerable than adults and usually get coerced into the sex trade by skilled manipulators who lure children with false promises of friendship, food, love. MIKE FREEMAN, HENNEPIN COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: These pimps are pretty adroit to manipulative people. They see a young woman hanging out, particularly if she's by herself, and strike up a conversation.
They may flatter them. They may take them out for a meal. And at the end of the evening is sex with the pimp, and subsequently, they're in the business of prostitution.
FEYERICK: That business once found mainly on street corners is thriving online, on nationwide classified Web site like Backpage.com, where people place ads selling all kinds of things. Just a glance at the escort section leaves little doubt what's for sale.
(on camera): How would you feel, for example, I mean, as a mother if you saw an ad like this? Or an ad like this? Or -- I mean, this girl, she says she's 19. I mean, if you saw your daughter in this -- like this, what? How would --
LIZ MCDOUGALL, ATTORNEY, VILLAGE VOICE MEDIA: I would be horrified. And I am horrified for those mothers. And my heart goes out to those mothers and to their daughters who are victims of exploitation.
FEYERICK: Am I wrong? Isn't prostitution simply illegal?
MCDOUGALL: Prostitution is illegal, and we don't permit illegal activity on the Web site.
FEYERICK: But what are they selling? What are they selling?
MCDOUGALL: We have -- there are legal adult entertainment services.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are playing a role in this problem --
FEYERICK (voice-over): Backpage.com attorney Liz McDougall is trying to convince people what's advertised in the adult section is actually legal -- not only the services for sale but the ages of girls selling it. It's not an easy job, when prosecutors are demanding the section be shut down.
JOHN CHOI, RAMSEY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: When we get a case involving the trafficking of prostitution, usually the story is going to start on Backpage.com.
FEYERICK: For this mother, that's exactly where the story took her 14-year-old daughter.
"DAWN", MOTHER OF SEX-TRAFFICKED TEEN: The daughter I know is a kid that likes to color.
FEYERICK: We're calling her "Dawn" to protect the identity of her underage daughter, who she says ran away with a man who seduced her online. Within days, that man posted pictures of the teen on Backpage.com, selling the child into prostitution. Allegations detailed in a criminal complaint.
"DAWN": He took her and beat her into submission to raping her. And then held her into prostitution. It totally, totally crushed me to know that somebody actually did this to her.
FEYERICK: The accused pimp pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing. It's one of more than 50 cases in some 23 states of people charged of advertising underaged girls for sex on backpage.com.
(on camera): Have you seen the advertisement that was put up on line for your daughter?
"DAWN": No. I don't think I'd want to see it. It's too scary. The thought of a little kid coloring, posing. No. No, I've never seen it.
FEYERICK: Some would say all you're doing is legitimizing prostitution that you're in the prostitution business.
LIZ MCDOUGALL, ATTORNEY, VILLAGE VOICE: We're not in the prostitution business when we're doing everything possible to impede prostitution, to impede the exploitation of women, children, boys, men, labor, sex trafficking. We're - the internet is, unfortunately, the vehicle for this. And within the internet, we are trying to be the sheriff.
FEYERICK (voice-over): McDougall argues it's better to have ads on a web site that works with law enforcement to stop child exploitation than it is to drive it underground or offshore where U.S. laws don't apply.
Minnesota prosecutor John Choi disagrees. Like many other law enforcement authorities, he believes Backpage is part of the problem, not the solution.
(on camera): Has Backpage ever helped you in a case?
JOHN CHOI, MINNESOTA PROSECUTOR: That has never been the case. I have never seen backpage.com come to the authorities and say, we have some suspicious activity going on.
MCDOUGALL: If we had a silver bullet to eradicate it, we would.
FEYERICK: But isn't the silver bullet shutting it down?
MCDOUGALL: No. I wish that it were. As you can see when Craigslist shut down, people had said that was the silver bullet. And that made no difference.
FEYERICK (voice-over): No difference because people simply moved their erotic ads over to Backpage, making it the number-one web site for adult service ads in the country. And that means huge profits. More than $28 million in ad revenue in the last 12 months, according to A.I.M., an internet research group.
(on camera): You benefited -
MCDOUGALL: Yes.
FEYERICK: You picked up the slack, you filled the void. You made -
MCDOUGALL: You're right. A tremendous number of the ads came to us.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Backpage accounts for almost 75 percent of revenue from adult service ads tracked by A.I.M., nearly 90,000 sex ads were posted nationwide for the month of July.
McDougall says they monitor ad content, targeting some 25,000 terms and code words used by traffickers. Then they check ads manually before posting. She says about 400 suspicious ads a month get flagged to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. And yet ads like this are not hard to find.
(on camera): I mean, I'm having a hard time with this, too. Make me beg, smack me, spit on me, degrade me, choke me.
MCDOUGALL: If that's f that's on line, that's a mistake. I will certainly say that there are - our moderators are human beings, and there are mistakes. One of my first orders of priority is improving the policing. But if what you just read is on our web site, that's a mistake. That should be off. That should never be permitted. That violates our terms of use and our policies.
FEYERICK (voice-over): "Dawn" only learned the details of her daughter's ordeal by reading the criminal complaint. Her daughter, in a safe place and getting the help she needs, cannot talk about it.
(on camera): You think she'll be able to get past it somehow?
"DAWN": With the therapy and lots of therapy that we are doing now, I am praying a lot that she will recover from it. But I don't think it's going to fully ever go away.
FEYERICK (voice-over): As for the men who buy girls on line -
"DAWN": I don't think anything of them. I - they're bottom of the food chain. No, they're worse than that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN ANCHOR: Deborah Feyerick joins us live now. I can't imagine the pain that that mom is feeling knowing that her daughter was on that web site. And it seems as though backpage.com is not backing down. Although they're threatened with lawsuits.
FEYERICK: You know, they really aren't. And this is what's fascinating about it. Liz McDougall, who you saw, back there, she has really become the face of this issue. But she's truly convinced that this web site is a way to rescue children especially runaways. Now is that a rationalization for a lucrative adult services business? From the conversations she and I had, she seemed sincere in wanting to help kids. But the reality is that Backpage is helping generate this problem. They are now being cut loose. And this week investors announcement the deal to buy Village Voice media assets like the L.A. and San Francisco weeklies, the hope is by separating backpage.com, putting it out there on its own, that they will win back advertisers. And basically be a viable company. So they're really trying to separate it and basically say to Backpage, look, OK, right now this is a bad business model.
HENDRICKS: And human trafficking is a prevalent problem. And President Obama bringing up the issue, which is good.
FEYERICK: Yes, absolutely. And what's so fascinating also is that the federal government has really stepped up to its game in how they deal with this. Just this week at the Clinton Global Initiative, President Obama talked about human trafficking, the FBI has put together a task force to deal with this. There are a record number of federal prosecutions taking place all across the country.
Traffickers are being given much steeper sentences. So really what the federal government is trying to do, Susanne, they're really trying to tamp down on this problem before it gets so explosive that they just can't even dream of putting it back in the bottle. That's going to be a very difficult challenge.
HENDRICKS: Deb, thanks so much. It's a difficult topic but it needs to be discussed. Because people need to know about this. Appreciate it.
Next weekend, you will hear from some of the women who as young girls were sold for sex. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: By a show of hands, how many of you were raped? How many of you have scars because of what you went through, physical scars? Emotional scars? How many? How long does it take to heal?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You may never - you may never heal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: Stories of struggle, survival, and what life is like inside the world of sex trafficking. That is next Saturday night, 7:00 Eastern. Don't miss that.
Next in the "CNN Newsroom," college graduates leaving school with thousands of dollars in debt. The presidential election just weeks away. We're going to break down how both candidates plan to deal with student loans. It's a big one, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: With annual tuitions around $40,000 a year at some schools, many families cannot afford to pay for college. But some will say there's a harsh reality among the middle class. You can't afford to go to college and you can't afford not to. Christine Romans goes in depth on the high cost of college.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Jackie Giovanniello graduated from Brown University this year, she put off going straight to medical school. Instead, she took a research job at Sloan-Kettering Hospital.
JACKIE GIOVANNIELLO, COLLEGE GRADUATE IN DEBT: It is nice to have paying job where I can pay back part of my student loans before going to med school and possibly adding on a lot more.
ROMANS: And she had plenty of them, $100,000 worth. Why? Her family is middle class. Her mother works in a school, her dad owns a bar. She says they're considered too wealthy to qualify for many grants, but she says not wealthy enough to have saved the money for the more than $50,000 a year to attend Brown.
GIOVANNIELLO: Whether you're in the middle class, you're a normal suburban family, but you just don't make an outrageous amounts of money. You can't pay for outrageous prices for tuition, you know.
ROMANS: She's not alone. Student loan debt hit a trillion dollars last year. Even tuition for public four-year colleges rose 68 percent over the last decade. Enter the presidential campaign with college affordability a key issue for younger voters.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to make college more affordable for every young person who has the initiative and drive to go and make sure they're not burdened by thousands of dollars worth of debt.
ROMANS: President Obama has expanded Pell grants and cut out the banks middle man for loans, allowing students to borrow directly from the government. Now Obama proposes to slow tuition growth by increasing state grants. Yet he'd need Congress to help fund that.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not going to promise all sorts of free stuff that I know you're going to end up paying for. What I want to do is give you a great job so you'll be able to pay it back yourself.
ROMANS: Mitt Romney's plan to help students - remove burdensome regulations and get the government out of the student loan business. Romney says the flood of federal dollars just drives up tuition.
Molly Corbett Broad of the American Council on Education says the recession's heavy toll on state budgets is also a factor.
MOLLY CORBETT BROAD, AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION: When the state reduces its support, the only other place to turn for most colleges is in the public sector is to increase tuition.
ROMANS: Either way, students like Jackie feel left out in the cold.
GIOVANNIELLO: A lot of people who don't have students in college or don't have kids my age just think, like, you're wealthy enough to go to college, or you get financial aid from the government. It's that simple but it's not that simple.
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HENDRICKS: Now, a recent study by Fidelity Investments shows families are way behind their college savings goals. Fewer than 1/3 of parents with college-bound children are even considering the total cost of college. And only 30 percent of all families are on track to cover that hefty cost.
Well, he just won an Emmy for his role on "Two and a Half Men." So how is acting along side Ashton Kutcher different than Charlie Sheen. Your question for Jon Cryer, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: On this week CNN's ireport interview, actor Jon Cryer talks about his Emmy award winning TV role and how it feels to be mistaken for Matthew Broderick.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON CRYER, ACTOR: My son watch the show. He accidentally caught one episode at a friend's house that - where I was naked wearing a Marilyn Monroe wig and speaking directly to the camera singing, "Happy Birthday, Mr. President," and I think that scarred him for life.
Hi, I'm Jon Cryer, and I am here to answer your I-report questions.
RICHARD GASKIN, I-REPORTER: Can you tell me the different chemistry you have with Charlie than you do with Ashton right now?
CRYER: Thank you, Professor X. But I certainly hope you're not planning the overthrow of the world. The difference in terms of playing my character Alan with Ashton's character, Walden, as opposed to Charlie, Harper's character, was that Charlie Harper and Alan are brothers. And so they're sort of stuck together no matter what. There was a great deal of irritation in their relationship. But Alan and Walden are actually friends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been where you are. Rejected, friendless, broke.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not broke. I'm worth like $1 billion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beg pardon?
CRYER: They're a weird friendship, and that's what makes it fun to play. But it is a very different vibe.
KATHI CORDSEN, I-REPORTER: Every time I see you on TV, I always think of another actor. And I'm wondering if you are somehow related to him.
CRYER: OK.
CORDSEN: His name is Matthew Broderick.
CRYER: I have been mistaken for Matthew Broderick for many, many, many years. Even when I was working as an usher before I ever got a job as an actor. People used to come up to me and say, "Oh, you were wonderful in "Torch Song Trilogy."" That's wonderful. Here's your seat. You know. I'm not Matthew Broderick. We do resemble each other. He's a lovely guy. He is very rarely been mistaken for me. So it does go both ways, but very rarely. There's much worse people to be mistaken for. So I'll take it.
EUGENE DELCORPO, I-REPORTER: My question is in regards to the movie "Pretty in Pink." What inspired you when you danced to the Otis Redding song? You really touched a lot of us. It was fantastic.
CRYER: Originally, there were all kinds of songs being (INAUDIBLE). At one point I was going to sing a Rolling Stones song. But then the director he said, "No, I think it's got to be something specific and passionate."
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CRYER: I had not actually heard the song before. He played it for me. I got together with a choreographer. And just had a - a great time one day and came one fun stuff to do. I basically was trying to show how ridiculous a white boy could be in that situation. And I think we achieved that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: Funny guy. He does look like Matthew Broderick, right? Well, the next celebrity in the hot seat (INAUDIBLE) to submit a question, go to cnn.com/interview and ask away. You can watch all the I-reporter celebrity interviews on ireport.com and of course, right here on CNN every Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
The Rider Cup wraps up tomorrow. And something this man is making the big news there but for all the wrong reasons. We're going to go live to the tournament next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: The top golfers from the U.S. and Europe are on a showdown for the Ryder Cup. The three-day competition heads into the final day tomorrow. The U.S. is in a very strong position in case you didn't know.
CNN's Shane O'Donoghue joins me now from Medinah Country Club in Illinois. Shane, great to talk to you. I hear fans are having a great time there and that the energy is really like any other golf tournament.
SHANE O'DONOGHUE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a unique event that happens every two years and honors have been shared over the last two contests between Europe and the United States, but the home side really do have home advantage, there's no doubt about that.
Chicago is a sports mad city, Susan, and well, the U.S. are really dominating as we speak. They led after the opening day, 5-3, and they doubled that lead after the morning foursomes this morning to would you believe 8-4, and now they go into the final day singles after more competition this afternoon with the afternoon four balls leading 10-6. So that is quite a lead going into the final 12 singles tomorrow.
There's no doubt, too, of the great heroes have been a rookie and a Hall of Famer. They have combined brilliantly. Phil Mickelson is a four-time Major champion and recently inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, but he has been alongside a man who is really setting out on his professional career Keegan Bradley from Massachusetts. It is Bradley who really has been the star attraction here. Those two have combined to play three matches, and they have won all three. They were rested this afternoon and I had a brief moment with Keegan Bradley and I was catching up with him, and wondering exactly how he has found this new experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEEGAN BRADLEY, 3-0 IN 1ST RYDER CUP: It is just, it's just been a great couple of days. I have been enjoying myself and having fun. I need to bring this type of attitude to my regular season tour much more often.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONOGHUE: Well, he is going to be sensational tomorrow in the finals singles. He is looking to have a clean sweep here and perhaps add another great victory to his impressive tally so far, but it has been a wonderful event and no doubt about it, the U.S. are on top and they're dominating and under brilliant blue skies it looks like they are on for another victory here in the Ryder Cup, but there is one day to go, Susan.
HENDRICKS: Yes, I heard that Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson were saying they feel the pressure in this tournament, even more so than a Major because they don't want to disappoint their teammates. Tiger Woods is not doing so well but hey, the U.S. is in the lead, as you said, Shane, great job. Thanks so much and good talking to you.
Talk about a Kodak moment, and a young boy's first kiss, and that is so camera-worthy. It made countless others jealous. That is who it is with, Carrie Underwood.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HENDRICKS: Well, it is a moment most people remember for the rest of their lives, but one boy's first kiss is especially unforgettable. CNN's Jeanne Moos explains why it is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How does a 12-year-old manage to get a country music star to give him his very first kiss ever? Sign language from the front row.
CARRIE UNDERWOOD, SINGER: He says, Carrie, give me your first kiss. What do you say we make that happen?
MOOS: The next thing you know Carrie Underwood was holding Chase Kurnick's hand on stage at this Louisville, Kentucky, concert. But even before he came up he had an inkling she'd notice him.
CHASE KURNICK, UNDERWOOD FAN: She saw me and she winked at me.
UNDERWOOD: How old are you?
CHASE: Twelve.
UNDERWOOD: He's only 12 years. (INAUDIBLE) I was 14 when I had my very first kiss.
MOOS (on camera): Just between us, was this really the first time you kissed a girl?
CHASE: Yes, it is my first kiss.
MOOS (voice-over): But how?
UNDERWOOD: How do you want to do that?
CHASE: Lip-to-lip.
MOOS: Chase cuts to the chase.
(on camera): This being his first kiss, Chase needed a little instruction.
UNDERWOOD: OK. Close your eyes.
MOOS (voice-over): A first kiss never ever to be forgotten, especially since it was capture on YouTube from so many angles.
(on camera): And what did you learn?
CHASE: I learned to close my eyes. And to determination.
MOOS (voice-over): He later exchanged tweets with Carrie Underwood and hash tag lip to lip and his friends called him the luckiest dude in the world. So not fair that you get to kiss her. How was it?
CHASE: It was just amazing. Words can't describe.
MOOS: The words on his sign were outlined by his dad, and Chase colored them in and the Kurnick family needed a fun distraction. Right before Memorial Day, they got burned out of their house when lightning struck, and now a spark of a different kind.
(on camera): Carrie gave chase a taste few other men have had and let alone 12-year-old boys.
KURNICK: I learned something else, too.
MOOS (on camera): What is that?
KURNICK: She wears cherry lip balm.
MOOS (voice-over): Carried away by Underwood and no matter how many country music award she kisses she'll never forget his first.
(on camera): Are you never going to wash your lips again or brush your teeth?
KURNICK: Well, I brushed my teeth, but not my lips.
MOOS (voice-over): Not after they had been brushed by hers.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: I love that. He is a fan for life.
I'm Susan Hendricks at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. I will see you back here at 10:00 Eastern time. "Global Lessons, Getting America Back to Work" with Fareed Zakaria starts right now. Take a look at that.