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CNN NEWSROOM

"I'll Have Another" Scratched from Belmont; Europe Can Help U.S.; When Politics Turns Rude & Crude; Thunderstorm Crashes Graduation; Obama: Leak Allegations "Offensive;" Syria Deadlock; Hunt for Source of E. Coli Outbreak

Aired June 8, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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


FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Picture this, graduation. Fighting back tears watching that special young person cross the stage and seconds later you're running for your life because of this. This is in New Jersey just after high school grads tossed their caps in the air. This thunderstorm tossed back hail, wind, and lightning, and that cloud which looked pretty scary and funnel-like. But thankfully no one was hurt.

And this is Sarah Outen in happier times. She's a British woman who was attempted to paddle a kayak across the pacific ocean by herself. Rough weather damaged her boat and today the Japanese coast guard picked her up. She's save but disappointed. She's trying to bike and paddle around the world solo. She's already gone 11,000 miles since last April.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Suzanne Malveaux.

President Obama today firing back at accusations that is his administration deliberately leaked classified information about a cyber attack on Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive. It's wrong, and people I think need to have a better sense of how I approach this office and how the people around me here approach this office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The president also hammered away at Congress urging lawmakers to pass a jobs plan to boost the economy. Republicans were quick to respond to the president's aassessment of the U.S. job market.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), MAJORITY LEADER: We just listened to the president say that the private sector was doing fine. My question would be to the president, are you kidding? Did he see the job numbers that came out last week? The private sector is not doing fine. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The president says the U.S. is facing headwinds from Europe. Ahead this hour we'll talk with CNN's Richard Quest about how the crisis in Europe is already affecting the U.S.

And Florida's Republican appointed secretary of state is defending his plan to try to purge non-U.S. citizens from the state's voter roles saying it's necessary and legal. Critics say the plan unfairly targets minorities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN DETZNER, FLORIDA SECRETARY OF STATE: We at the present time during this 90-day period, we do eliminate individuals that are felons, people that are mentally incompetent, and those that are deceased. It seems no logical question that those individuals might have more rights or the individuals that are noncitizen would have more rights than somebody that's a felon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Ken Detzner has been locked in a heated battle with the Justice Department over the legality of his plan. It's playing out five months before the presidential election with Florida playing a crucial role in the big vote.

And there will be no triple crown winner this year. That's because I'll have another, the heavy favorite to win tomorrow's Belmont stakes, is out of the race. The worked out earlier this morning but was scratched a little more than an hour ago. He could have been the first triple crown winner since 1978.

And it's described as the real, real challenge facing the world diplomatic community today. Syria, a U.N. peace plan that nobody is following. World leaders with no agreement on what to do next, and a string of civilian massacre that is the U.N. Secretary-General says may be a crime against humanity.

And this is the city of Homs. Artillery shells exploded in residential areas. We have no word on anyone hurt or killed there today. Elsewhere in Syria, furious crowds filled the streets. People are fed up with the government crackdown and the killings. Let's get to Beirut, Lebanon. CNN's Arwa Damon is there. Tell us about those demonstrations that did get violent today.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty incredible, Fredricka, when you think about it, for more than 15 months activists have been taking to the streets, getting shot at, dying by the hundreds. Thousands, in fact, killed up until now, more than 12,000, and still they continue to go out there. We saw demonstrations in a town where they were carrying a banner that no longer said go to the president, it said quite sarcastically and in a very dark way, no, do stay, because we're coming to get you. In another province masses gathering as well. Throughout the entire continue, in fact, but again as has been the cycle since the onset, activists say they came under government fire as they were demonstrating. Up to 40 people killed countrywide. Also in various acts of shelling and military assaults that were taking place as well. The Syrian government is saying that it is being targeted by these terrorist gangs. State TV airing video of the alleged aftermath of a bombing that is said to have killed two civilians. So most certainly, as you said earlier, the violence is continuing and there is no cease-fire.

WHITFIELD: And Arwa, Kofi Annan and Hillary Clinton met today at the United Nations. They're the ones call this, quote, a real, real challenge. Is Annan still sanding by his so-called six-point peace plan?

DAMON: He is to a certain degree, although he and others are highlighting the fact that for it to work, there has to be consensus behind it, that all parties need to truly be on board. He and others have by and large placed the blame for the fact it's not being implemented largely with the Syrian government. But he's coming under some pretty harsh criticism for the failure of his six-point peace plan and for the fact that there is no plan b. this is what Mr. Annan had to say in reaction to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY: Some say the plan may be dead. Is the problem the plan or is the problem implementation? If it's implementation how do we get action on that? If it is the plan, what other options do we have?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: Clearly, Fredricka, more questions are not what Syrians want to be hearing at this stage. They want to be hearing the answers to those questions, and it's going to be very concerning for all those who are involved that the individual who is at the center of this plan, who is the one who came up with this very plan, is only answering critical questions with even more questions. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Arwa Damon, thanks so much. In Beirut, Lebanon.

Another story we're following, the search for a source in a deadly e. coli outbreak in this country. 14 people affected now in six southern states. In one case a toddler in New Orleans died. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with all that you need to know. So what is the latest on this?

ELIZABETH COHEN, SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There is still a lot that we don't know, a lot of mystery here. So they have these -- this group of people, it's a relatively small group of people in six states, who have come down with e. coli. It's a 145, the number for the strain. When they look at it under the microscope, they can see the molecular fingerprint is identical.

WHITFIELD: The source is the same?

COHEN: That leads them to believe that the source is the same. So what's the source? That's the big question mark. WHITFIELD: How do they go about finding out?

COHEN: They interview the folks who are sick, and they ask them what did you eat? When did you eat it? Where did you buy that food and it's actually -- it's epidemiological investigation work, shoe leather work, and eventually they hopefully will come up with something. They do this all the time. This is what they do in an outbreak. This is a real classic kind of outbreak and they usually do come up with that one thing all those people ate.

WHITFIELD: Those people are being treated, handled, what about everybody else. What have they come into contact with?

COHEN: There's nothing you can do because they don't know what it is you're supposed to avoid. I can't say don't eat this brand of ground beef or don't eat this kind of lettuce because we don't know what it is. You should always observe regular precautions. You shouldn't be having medium rare hamburgers. They should be cooked thoroughly. You should be washing your produce.

WHITFIELD: We have to wait and watch and hopefully learn something more.

COHEN: And also watch yourself and your family. If you have a terrible bout of diarrhea for example or a fever, it's worth going to the doctor if you're feeling ill. Keep in mind this that is happening and ask if it's a possibility.

WHITFIELD: And those are the symptoms. Severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, and even vomiting.

COHEN: And fever. When you look at that, you think everybody has had that at some point. When you hear about this outbreak, it's something to keep in mind. If you have a disease that's unusual for you, you have those symptoms but it's intense, you don't usually get this, it may be worth going to your doctor and saying, hey, I hear this e. coli outbreak, is it possible that's what's going on particularly if you're dealing with a small child, an elderly child, or someone with immune problems.

WHITFIELD: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much. Elizabeth will be back with us later in the hour to talk about her prime time special empowered patient, 25 shocking medical mistakes. You don't want to miss our preview.

And here is what we're working on for this hour.

More American troops die by suicide this year than at the hands of the enemy. We'll take a look at why that is and what can be done about it.

Plus, uncivility in politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. If they're going to be heckling us, we're not going to sit back and play by different rules.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Political tit for tat and why Americans are more polarized than ever.

And how this teen went from being homeless and scrubbing floors for a living to being accepted to an Ivy league college.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Want to take you straight to Belmont. Right now trainers of the horse I'll have another are speaking. The horse I'll have another will not be racing and going for the triple crown home. Trainers are explaining that this horse had an injury. Let's listen in more.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

DOUG O'NEILL, TRAINER: -- back at the mansion, I think in the pool and tennis court today. But Johnny, who gets on him every day, is a great kid. Betta who came out here just in case we needed a backup. Sensia, Benjamin who is grazing him right now, Leandro, I know I'm missing guys, Thumper, Rio, Tyler, Marcos, but it has just been an incredible ride, an incredible run, and I have taken so many notes, a lot of mental notes and I know we're going to be back here again and I know some people have asked if I thought that the detention barn had anything to do with this and absolutely not. Just a freakish thing.

He has been showing a little bit of -- you know, he's been a little quiet the last few days of galloping but his legs have been great. Yesterday he galloped great but in the afternoon we noticed some loss of definition in his left front leg to which, like every other owner and trainer, we prayed he just kind of hit himself and it was just a little bit of skin irritation. We did him up in a special poultice. This morning he looked great so I thanked the racing gods there and we did just a little easy gallop with him today. I thought he looked great on the track, and then cooling out you could tell that swelling was back and at that point I didn't feel very good. I talked to Mr. Redem and immediately we got dr. Hunt over here. He scanned him, and said it was the start of tendonitis in his left front tendon, and, you know, you could give him three to six months and start back with him, but obviously he's done so much that it was unanimous between the redems and my brother and I and everyone at the barn to retire him and it is bummer, but again far from tragic, but it is very disappointing.

Can I say one more thing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yeah, yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to thank Doug and his entire team for the great care they've given this horse. And it was a hell of a run. And I know they're all personally very disappointed, of course, that he didn't get to show his stuff for tomorrow because we tried to be quiet, but I really thought he was going to run off tomorrow and really show something. So we were all a bit shocked. But we have to do what's best for the horse. And if he can't compete at the top level, you know, he's done enough. And, Doug, thank you.

(END LIVE FEED)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, lots of disappointment coming from the trainers of the horse, "I'll Have Another." We heard first from Doug O'Neill and then Paul Reddam all saying that it was one heck of a run for that horse nailing two crowns of the triple crown and the hopes was it would be able to run tomorrow there in Elmont, New York, at the Belmont Stakes. But, after doing a practice run this morning, finding that after doing an easy gallop, there was still some swelling in a left front leg. Something they had noticed earlier while the horse was galloping. That there was some loss in definition and saw that, again, the swelling was back and knew that they couldn't push that horse any further. It wouldn't be up to par in order to race tomorrow. It would be -- it would really mean a recovery of about three or four months. They didn't have that. So, they have elected to retire that horse, "I'll Have Another." It will not be in the Belmont Stakes tomorrow.

Richard Quest is there in Elmont, New York, where the press conference continues with the -- oh, I'm sorry, Richard Quest, not in Elmont, but instead in London watching from afar. So, big disappointment for the racing world. A big disappointment for the owners of that horse as well. But, you know, the show will have to go on there.

All right, let's go on to Richard Quest. We're going to talk about, instead, the European markets, not the horse racing. The president of the United States, he's very worried about Europe with the U.S. economy showing signs of slowing down. President Obama, today, pointed across the Atlantic to America's biggest trading partner and said, in so many words, that Europe had better get its act together.

Richard Quest, all right let's talk now, from London, about the economy and whether indeed, you know, the winds from the European final markets and financial status is indeed impacting the U.S. Was that a good explanation from the president?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Frankly, you'd stand more chance of winning Belmont than getting any sense out of the Europeans at the moment. The truth of the matter is, when the president of the United States on a Friday in June goes before the world's press to basically tell the Europeans it's time to get their act together, and then gives them a long list of economics about what needs to be done and why it needs to be done and how worried he is about the effects it could have on the United States' economy, then you know it's serious.

Mr. Obama, the latest in a list of politicians, but by far the most important, who basically today said do it and do it now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, what we've tried to do is to be constructive, to not frame this as us scolding them or telling them what to do, but to give them advice in part based on our experiences here in having stabilized a financial situation effectively. And, you know, ultimately, though, they're going to have to make a lot of these decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, as the president pointed out, they've got to stabilize the banking system by recapitalizing, they've got to get growth moving again in the similar way to the United States. And on the question of Greece, he said there the Greek people would have the final choice on the euro. But obviously they had to live up to their word.

Now, Fredricka, while we're just talking about Greece, have you seen the pictures of the Greek --

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. I know what you're saying.

QUEST: I mean for the viewers who have not --

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.

QUEST: Have a watch. Have a watch. These are just -- there goes the water.

WHITFIELD: Oh, no. That is beyond wrong. What in the world is the explanation there?

QUEST: Well, he says that she raised her fist first. We beg to differ.

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE).

QUEST: The guy who's from the Golden Dawn Party, now called the Black Dawn, it is the far right wing party. He's in hiding. The police are after him. It's generally believed it will cost this right wing extremist party. They're anti-immigrant. They're anti-everything. They're the sort of people, frankly, who have no hesitation in saying you wouldn't necessarily want to sit next to at dinner. And the truth is, now it will be up to the Greek people next Sunday whether they actually give them any -- the 3 percent necessary to get them into parliament or not. What an end, Fredricka, to a week that has --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

QUEST: I mean, you know, we have people --

WHITFIELD: It really underscores tempers are flaring, but come on, that's just so out of control.

QUEST: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Bad stuff. All right, thanks so much, Richard, for straightening it out. I confused everybody. I had you in Elmont and now in London and talking stakes and now we focus on that. Thank you so much. I appreciate it, Richard.

QUEST: Thank you. Have a good weekend.

WHITFIELD: All right, you too.

All right, a new poll finds politics dividing Americans more than ever and more than race. It appears civility in politics is also going out the window.

And from booing down opponents before they speak to nasty campaign ads, we'll look at what's happening with the political process.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Heckling at campaign events, campaign surrogates using terms like BS to describe the other side's position. The presidential race is getting ugly. Remember this scene from last week when Romney supporters tried to drown out Obama campaign chief David Axelrod at a news conference?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID AXELROD, OBAMA CAMPAIGN CHIEF: I think some of my -- I get tweets from some of these folks, so I feel close to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, that's just one of the incidents mentioned in a "Time" magazine article about the loss of decorum in presidential politics. It was written by Michael Scherer, a "Time's" White House correspondent. He's joining us now from Washington.

So, Michael, this is just one example that you gave about the lack of dignity and decorum in politics, but is it reaching new depths or is this a continuum of a tone that we've witnessed over the last, say, three and a half years beginning with that State of the Union Address and that "you lie" moment?

MICHAEL SCHERER, "TIME" WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I think it's all of the above. I mean presidential campaign politics has always been nasty. The difference is, it used to be nasty and subtle in secretive ways. You remember Richard Nixon's dirty tricks in 1972. Here you had a case where it wasn't someone distancing -- secretly doing --

WHITFIELD: It's overt.

SCHERER: It's overt. These were campaign staffers and interns in Boston coming not to disagree with David Axelrod, but to prevent him from speaking. And when Mitt Romney, the candidate, was asked about this, he said, good for them. What's good for the goose is good for the gander or whatever that phrase is and said, look, I've been heckled at my speeches. I'm going heckle them at their speeches. And I think this is part of a larger trend we're seeing in politics generally where candidates and politicians and campaigns can actually be rewarded for behaving badly. And that's because the American people are really fed up and Democrats and Republicans, the bases of both parties, tell pollsters that they don't think their own parties are doing enough to stand up for the values of their -- their own values. So they want their parties to be tougher. So there's really not a lot to lose for someone like Mitt Romney to play hardball in this overt way. The effect on the national conversation is a different matter altogether.

WHITFIELD: Huh. Yes. And that is hard to understand because then you hear the sentiment from some voters who are saying, I'm so tired of the bickering. But then there's the sentiment swirling around the campaign saying, if you don't stand up for yourself, then you won't be respected. So, you know, you mentioned Mitt Romney's, you know, response to that incident. So here's what he actually said to a reporter when the reporter asked him directly about that kind of behavior.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For many of the events I go to, there are large groups of, if you will, Obama supporters there heckling me. And at some point you say, you know what, sash (ph) for the goose is sash (ph) for the gander. If they're going to be heckling us, why, we're not going to sit back and play by very different rules.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And that's exactly what you were talking about, you know. So, you know, it's kind of this tit for tat. You know, you started it. No, he did. I mean it just sounds so elementary, doesn't it?

SCHERER: Right. No, and there are a couple of things to point out there. The Obama campaign doesn't do what the Romney campaign did last week. There is no evidence that Obama campaign staffers or interns, the people who actually work on the campaign, have come with signage to disrupt Romney events. It's very clear that the Chicago operation doesn't mind when Romney's events are disrupted by hecklers from various left wing groups, but they don't do it themselves.

You know, the other interesting thing about that press conference is, that press conference was Mitt Romney standing in front of Solyndra delivering a message about Solyndra. And his message was that the inspector general had found that President Obama had steered -- that the contract with Solyndra had benefited friends and family of President Obama. It was a statement that just wasn't true.

Now, in past campaigns, if a candidate came out and said something that just flat out was not true --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SCHERER: There would be a consequence. He would be punished for that. We all know that's not true. It's been reported that it's not true. But Romney's not backing off. And he hasn't apologized. It's just another example of this sort of decline in the quality of the debate we're having.

WHITFIELD: And you do have to wonder, when is it just simply counterproductive. You've got surrogates who are now dropping the "f" bomb, you know, off the record comments. Even using terms like BS on the record. SCHERER: That's right.

WHITFIELD: So listen to what Stephanie Cutter of the Obama team said in a campaign video. She was actually responding to an ad from the Karl Rove super PAC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE CUTTER, POLITICAL AD: Oh, another special interest attack ad, another set of outright distortions, and another time when I need to ask you to do what you do best, get the president's back. Karl Rove is relying on you doing nothing to call out his BS. And I know you will prove him wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So it's all right now? Is that kind of the -- I guess this is the new norm?

SCHERER: Yes, it is. And there are other YouTube videos the Obama campaign has put out that you wouldn't play on your air because they involve words that are a little more explicit than BS. The Obama campaign, from the beginning, has been a potty mouth here. And, you know, they're trying to show -- they're trying to use it as a way of demonstrating they're tough, they're not going to be -- you know, take anything lying down. They're really going to go at Mitt Romney. And, again, both campaigns are being rewarded from their bases for that posture.

WHITFIELD: Boy, and still five more months to go, hey?

SCHERER: I know. That's the thing. We're just getting started.

WHITFIELD: Ugly, uglier, ugliest. We're going to see what the, I don't know, threshold is. All right, Michael Scherer of "Time" magazine. Thanks so much.

SCHERER: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. And now this is a pretty tough turn. We're talking about more American troops now killing themselves -- killing themselves -- more of them killing themselves rather than being killed in combat. And we're talking about Afghanistan. This year alone. We'll take a look at why and what could be done about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The suicide rates for active-duty troops are hitting shocking new levels. This year alone, it's averaged almost one a day, one suicide a day. Last week alone, there were eight recorded.

Barbara Starr has been looking into this for us.

Can you give us an idea just -- these are terrible numbers. Is there a common thread? What's the explanation behind one suicide involving a military servicemember a day? BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It just seems staggering, doesn't it, Fredricka? We've talked about this over the months and years of the war but it just doesn't seem to get any better.

That's right. In fact, the pace of suicides in the U.S. military for those on duty -- it's now becoming that suicide is a higher rate, cause of death, if you will, than actually being this combat.

Let me start by just showing a couple numbers to help people understand this. Active-duty suicides in the U.S. military so far this year, 154 across the military. That is a very unexpected jump compared to the previous two years. You see the numbers right there. Interestingly, one of the services that has seen an unexpected jump is the U.S. Air Force. They have had 32 suicides so far this year compared to 23. What on earth is going on?

And, of course, that's the problem for the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Panetta sending another letter to the chiefs saying redouble the efforts on suicide prevention programs, buddy programs. If you got a buddy out there, and they seem to be in trouble -- you know, more behavioral health specialists, mental health counseling out in the field.

But over the years, Fred, what they have really found is that there's no single one reason. And that's really been the problem. How do you attack the problem when there seems to be so many different causes for it?

WHITFIELD: Right. That's the big quandary. They got this information, now what can the military, the Pentagon, Department of Defense -- what can be done? How do they pare down these numbers and try to come up with better solutions, programs, answers to head off the numbers?

STARR: Yes. Exactly. I mean, well, I think one of the things they do feel is working is to put more mental health counselors into the U.S. military. But the problem there is you are talking in large part about young people, mainly young men, and they feel a great sense of stigma attached to this. So one of the things the military is doing is trying to get to that root cause. If you have a problem, if you believe you may be at risk or your buddies think you are at risk for suicide, there is no stigma in asking for help, that you must ask for help.

This is one of the things they're really trying to change the culture inside the U.S. military. But it very much mirrors civilian society. The three basic reasons for this tragedy often remain the same. That's relationship or love problems, money problems, family problems, substance abuse. These appear across the board to be some of the enduring root causes for these types of tragedies -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: Barbara Starr, thanks so much, from the Pentagon.

A very different journey. Now she was trying to cross the Pacific Ocean by herself in a kayak, but she just hit a snag. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Brian Banks is getting a shot at a pro-football career. Banks is a former high school football superstar who spent five years in prison on a rape conviction, and a judge threw out his case, you'll recall, and cleared his name last month after his accuser admitted that she lied. Banks is in Washington State today attending mini camp with the Seattle Seahawks.

And this is Sarah Outen in happier times. She's a British woman who was attempting to paddle a kayak across the Pacific Ocean by herself. Rough weather damaged her boat, and today the Japanese Coast Guard picked her up. She's safe but disappointed. Outen is trying to bike and paddle around the world solo. She's already gone 11,000 miles since last April.

And moments after New Jersey grads tossed their caps into the air, many of them had to actually race for cover.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That's pretty frightening. This super-cell thunderstorm brought hail, wind and lightning to the ceremony. There were no reports of tornadoes. But this wall cloud certainly looked an awful lot like it was wanting to spawn a funnel cloud. You saw that strike of lightning. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Coming up, you know her face, Lisa Ling. She's reported from all over the world. Now she's focusing her investigative skills right here in the U.S. And what she's discovering about our America, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: She's been around the world reporting for CNN, ABC, the "Oprah Winfrey Show," and others. She's got her own show now, "Our America with Lisa Ling." The new season starting this weekend.

Lisa, good to see you.

LISA LING, HOST, OUR AMERICA WITH LISA LING & JOURNALIST: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: We're looking at two stories that are going to be part of this new series in particular. The first being very top of mind, involving the economy, people's livelihoods or thereof, and people living on the poverty line or below. What did you find in your discovery in meeting many of these people?

LING: Well, as you said, we cover such a vast array of topics on "Our America." But one of the episodes is called "Lost American Dream." It's about Americans who are living below the poverty line for the first time in their lives. And we all know that the middle class has been hit particularly hard, and this episode is about the notion that the American dream, here in the most industrialized biggest economy in the world, is increasingly more difficult to achieve. We spent time with a number of middle class Americans, a man who is 56 years old, father of four who lost his six-figure job, and is now really struggling.

And people who are 50 and older, who lose their jobs, are finding it more and more difficult to find employment because it's much more difficult to get back into the job market once they have been employed for a very long period of time.

We also spent time with a recent law school graduate. I think there's an assumption that if you go to law school, you will be able to find employment shortly after graduating. But a lot of these law school graduates are not only unable to find employment but they're finding themselves having incurred a tremendous amount of debt and having a hard time paying it back.

But one of the hopeful stories that we encountered, we spent time with a couple in retirement, who actually lost their pension in retirement due to the tumultuous stock market, and they have decided to go back to basics. We're a culture that has been consuming pretty grossly over the last decade. And they have realized that they want to start living a little more simply and conserving more. And perhaps it's a lesson that we can all learn something from.

WHITFIELD: And then you also profile somebody else. This is like the complete polar opposite. And, you know, sweeping the country has been a real fascination over the years of pageants, especially as they involve little girls. You profiled some little girls who were part of these beauty pageants. And you made some real discoveries of your own about some of the presumptions people make about the moms, the parents behind the children, and the children. And you met some people that kind of changed your point of view on the whole culture of the pageants?

LING: I did. Our first episode is called "Sparkle Babies." And I think that pageant parents are some of the most vilified people in pop culture. And certainly the first pageant I went to, I was as aghast as anyone. I saw these little girls in microscopic dresses, faces covered in makeup, with fake tans and I was quite appalled. But by my fourth pageant, I stopped seeing these girls as sexualized objects and I started to see what they were wearing as uniforms, not dissimilar from a cheerleading uniform or a --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Was it an issue of getting used to it?

LING: It was. I mean, pageant -- child pageants are pretty distinctive and pervasive in the American south. And I think we, on the coast, since we're not so exposed to it, it comes as such a shock to us. But one of the things that surprised me was seeing how involved parents are at these pageants. I mean, these routines are so elaborate, someone has to teach these girls these routines, and often it's the mother. I was so touched to see so many fathers who know the routines as well and who were involved.

(CROSSTALK)

LING: Yes. I was a little girl who wished my father was at more of her extracurricular activities. So it was touching to see these fathers who could have been sitting on the couch watching football on Sundays --

(CROSSTALK)

LING: -- there, supporting their families.

So like with every episode of our show, we take you a little deeper and allow you to explore something that you may have heard about and have a judgment about.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LING: But we take you a little bit deeper.

WHITFIELD: Insightful views of "Our America," the name of your show and series premiering this weekend on OWN.

Lisa Ling, good to see you.

LING: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: From dirty hands to dropping tools in the womb, hospitals are dealing with serious mistakes. Our Elizabeth Cohen will be back previewing her special, "Top 25 Medical Mistakes."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Medical mistakes kill more than a quarter million people every year, that's pretty shocking in and of itself, but some errors are more preventable than others.

Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, back now, digging into this with a special report you have coming out this weekend, Saturday. It's pretty stunning that so many mistakes can be made and really endanger a patient.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Saturday, 8:00, we're going to count down "25 Shocking Medical Mistakes." They're stocking because people don't always realize what can go wrong in a hospital or in a doctor's office. I'm sort of amazed sometimes that people don't ask questions, and then terrible things can happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): Jesse Matlock has a wondering right eye. Three 3-year-old needs surgery to have it fixed. He goes in for the operations and the surgeon cuts into the left eye instead of the right.

TASHA GAUL, MOTHER OF JESSE: My husband and I were in awe. We were like, can you repeat that again? She said, frankly, I lost sense of direction.

JESSE MATLOCK, INJURED DURING SURGERY: They messed up. Did this eye and then did this eye.

COHEN: Surgeons are supposed to initial or mark the correct site like they did with Jesse. But here's one way they can still get confused.

UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: We place drapes over the entire area. Mistakes can be made when you have draping that obscures the mark.

COHEN: In the U.S., seven patients every day suffer body part mix-ups.

(on camera): Just before surgery, make sure you confirm with the nurse and the surgeon the correct body part and side of your operation. And don't be shy about doing it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Yes, don't be shy. That really has to be underscored. Too many people are too reticent.

COHEN: Our daughter had her knee surgery and just before the surgery, we went to go see the surgeon, just minutes before, and said, right side. Remember, right side. We got a little grief for doing that because he held up his schedule a bit, but it was important.

WHITFIELD: You wanted to make sure.

COHEN: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So there's also some advice to people. They have to be very vigilant. They have to ask questions, they have to be their own advocate, don't they?

COHEN: You do.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: To help avoid some of these things.

COHEN: Exactly. We were talking before that often, in medicine, there's more than one way to handle a problem. When you got to a doctor and they say this is what we're going to do, ask, what are the other options? There may be other options that are better or safer.

WHITFIELD: Very good.

Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

Don't miss the prime time special, "Empowered Patient, 25 Shocking Medical Mistakes," tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

And this young woman went from being homeless and working as a janitor to getting into an Ivy League college. We'll show you how she did it.

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WHITFIELD: Some called her story a real life version of "Good Will Hunting." Our Martin Savidge has the story of a young woman who was homeless, washing floors at her high school for money, and now she's going to Harvard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While other teens still sleep, Dawn Loggins is in the hallways, classrooms and bathrooms of Burns High School, where she's a senior and janitor. Each morning, she cleans the rooms where she'll later return to learn.

DAWN LOGGINS, STUDENT & JANITOR: That I myself should be the root and father of many kings.

SAVIDGE: Then comes seven hours of advanced placement classes and honors classes. Then two more hours of dumping trash and picking up after her classmates.

LOGGINS: I don't mind cleaning because if you have to wade through trash to get to your desk, you're note going to have an environment that encourages learning.

SAVIDGE: Finally, she tackles homework until 2:00 a.m.

Besides being dedicated, school officials knew something else about Dawn, life at home wasn't exactly perfect. There were the eviction notices. The family moved -- a lot. Burns High was Dawn's fourth school in eighth grade. When she asked about candles, her boss realized the teen was living in a house with no electricity.

JUNIE BARRETT, BURNS HIGH CUSTODIAL SUPERVISOR: She came to me and she said I need something to be able to do my homework by. I said, OK, we'll get you some candles. We'll take care of that.

SAVIDGE: There was also no water.

LOGGINS (ph): We would get water jugs and fill them up at the park, liking using the spigots in the bathroom and we'd use that to flush the toilet and cook with and things like that.

SAVIDGE: It got worse. Last year when Dawn tried calling home from summer school in Raleigh, the phone was disconnected. Her mother and stepfather had moved again. This time, leaving her behind.

LOGGINS: I never expected my parents to just, like, leave.

SAVIDGE: You were homeless?

LOGGINS: Yes.

SAVIDGE: Dawn would crash a few days on a couch here or a night or two on a floor there, but still cleaning and still keeping up her grades.

LOGGINS: I think what motivates me is the fact that when I was younger, I was able to look at all the bad choices, at the neglect and the drug abuse, and I was not going to have to have ask myself, am I going to buy food this month or am I going to pay rent?

SAVIDGE (voice-over): What makes this story so amazing isn't just Dawn Loggins, it's what this school, it's what the community did. You see, the moment it was realized that Dawn was abandoned and homeless, she should have been turned over to the state, the Department of Social Services. That didn't happen. That didn't happen on purpose.

ROBYN PUTNAM, BURNS HIGH GUIDANCE COUNSELOR: We kind of took it upon ourselves to become her village.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): So teachers and staffers made sure she was clothed and fed and had a place to live.

SHERYL KOLTON, BURNS MIDDLE SCHOOL BUS DRIVER: The people are nice, so we have good people in Longdale. Yes, it's a nice community.

SAVIDGE: It didn't end there. That same village was now out to get her to college, and not just any college, Harvard.

History teacher, Larry Gardner, wrote the recommendation letter and simply told Dawn's story.

LARRY GARDNER, BURNS HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY TEACHER: This young woman has, unlike most of us, known hunger. She's known abuse and neglect and homelessness and filth, yet she's risen above it all to become such an outstanding student.

SAVIDGE: Months passed. Thick acceptance letters arrived from state schools but nothing from Cambridge. Then one day, an envelope with a Harvard seal arrived.

GARDNER: I am delighted to report that the admissions committee has asked me to inform you that you will be admitted to the Harvard class of 2016.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow. That was Martin Savidge reporting. What an inspiration she is and that community.

And actually, she graduated from high school last night, so we wish her the best.

Boy, that just leaves chills, doesn't it, Don?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That is an amazing story. Listen, it's always possible. Where there's a will, there's a way.

WHITFIELD: That's right.

All right, Don, take it away.

LEMON: Thanks. Thank you, Fred. Have a great evening.